A large-scale study on the prevalence of math anxiety in Qatar

BACKGROUND

Math anxiety (MA) is a worldwide appearing academic anxiety that can affect student mental health and deter students from math and science-related career choices.

METHOD

Using the Arabic version of the Modified-Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (m-AMAS), the prevalence of MA was investigated in a very large sample of students (N = 10093) from grades 7 to 12 in Qatar.

RESULTS

The results showed a better fit to the original two-factor model of the m-AMAS (learning MA and Evaluation MA) than to a single-factor solution. This two-factor model was also confirmed in each grade. Notably, the distribution of MA scores was right-skewed, especially for learning MA. Using the inter-quartiles ranges, norms for MA were provided: A score of ≤16 indicates low MA whereas a score of ≥30 identifies high MA. Previous studies conducted in Western countries defined high math-anxious students as those who score above the 90th percentile corresponding to a score of 30 on the m-AMAS. Using this cut-off criterion, the current study found that one-fifth of students in Qatar were highly math-anxious, with a higher proportion of females than males. We also calculated the percentage of participants selecting each response category for each questionnaire item. Results showed that attending a long math class was the context that elicited the highest levels of learning MA. In contrast, having an unexpected math test was the situation that triggered the highest levels of evaluation MA.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of MA might vary across different cultures.

The effect of student-perceived teacher support on math anxiety: chain mediation of teacher-student relationship and math self-efficacy

Introduction

This study investigates the mechanisms linking students' perceived teacher support with math anxiety, focusing on the mediating roles of the teacher-student relationship and mathematics self-efficacy.

Methods

The research was conducted with 401 fifth-grade students in China, utilizing scales for Students' Perceived Teacher Support, Teacher-Student Relationship, Math Self-Efficacy, and Math Anxiety.

Results

Findings revealed that student-perceived math teacher support, teacher-student relationship, and math self-efficacy were all significantly negatively correlated with math anxiety. It was notably found that student-perceived math teacher support influenced math anxiety through the chain mediation of teacher-student relationship and math self-efficacy. Additionally, the effect of students' perceived emotional support from math teachers on math anxiety, mediated by teacher-student relationship intimacy, was significant only among male students.

Discussion

These results underscore the importance of fostering positive teacher-student interactions and enhancing self-efficacy to reduce math anxiety among primary school students. The gender-specific findings regarding emotional support and relationship intimacy highlight the need for tailored strategies in addressing math anxiety.

Role of executive functions in the relations of state- and trait-math anxiety with math performance

The detrimental effect of math anxiety on math performance is thought to be mediated by executive functions. Previous studies have primarily focused on trait-math anxiety rather than state-math anxiety and have typically examined a single executive function rather than comprehensively evaluating all of them. Here, we used a structural equation modeling approach to concurrently determine the potential mediating roles of different executive functions (i.e., inhibition, switching, and updating) in the relationships between both state- and trait-math anxiety and math performance. A battery of computer-based tasks and questionnaires were administered to 205 university students. Two relevant results emerged. First, confirmatory factor analysis suggests that math anxiety encompassed both trait and state dimensions and, although they share substantial variance, trait-math anxiety predicted math performance over and above state-math anxiety. Second, working memory updating was the only executive function that mediated the relationship between math anxiety and math performance; neither inhibition nor switching played mediating roles. This calls into question whether some general proposals about the relationship between anxiety and executive functions can be extended specifically to math anxiety. We also raise the possibility that working memory updating or general cognitive difficulties might precede individual differences in math anxiety.

Understanding the social-emotional components of our "number sense": insights from a novel non-symbolic numerical comparison task

Introduction

A large body of work has identified a core sense of number supported by the Approximate Number System (ANS) that is present in infancy and across species. Although it is commonly assumed that the ANS directly processes perceptual input and is relatively independent from affective factors, some evidence points at a correlation between ANS performance and math anxiety. However, the evidence is mixed. We tested whether giving participants active control in completing a numerical task would change the relationship between math anxiety on performance.

Methods

Adult participants (N = 103) completed a novel four-alternative-forced-choice non-symbolic numerical comparison task. In a repeated-measures design, participants either passively viewed different dot arrays or actively chose to view each array (i.e., active information-seeking) before deciding on the largest quantity. Participants also provided confidence judgments during the passive version of the task.

Results

We replicated the ratio-dependent signature in participants' accuracy in both the passive and active versions of the task using this novel paradigm, as well as in trial-level confidence judgments and information-seeking behavior. Participants' self-reported math anxiety significantly correlated with their accuracy on the passive version of the task. Critically, the correlation disappeared in the active version of the task. Gender also emerged as a predictor of confidence judgments and a moderator of the effect of task on overall accuracy and the effect of active information seeking on accuracy in the active version of the task. Exploratory analysis of estimated Weber Fraction suggests that these results may be driven by auxiliary factors instead of changes in ANS acuity.

Conclusion

These findings have implications for understanding the relationship between math anxiety and performance on numerical tasks.

Math attitudes and math anxiety predict students' perception of teacher support in primary school, but not vice versa

BACKGROUND

Both teacher support and math attitudes have been identified as associated with math anxiety in primary school children. However, little is known about how they are interrelated longitudinally.

AIMS

The study was designed to examine the associations among perceived teacher support, math attitudes, and math anxiety in Chinese primary school students.

SAMPLE

The sample included 1802 students (56.16% boys) initially in the third and fourth grades in two public schools in China.

METHODS

A three-year cross-lagged panel design was conducted to examine the associations among perceived teacher support, math attitudes, and math anxiety. Moreover, a multigroup analysis was used to examine whether the associations varied by gender.

RESULTS

There were reciprocal associations over time between math attitudes and math anxiety. Meanwhile, both math attitudes and math anxiety significantly predicted perceived teacher support one year later, but not vice versa. Further, the association between T1 math anxiety and T3 perceived teacher support was mediated by T2 math attitudes; the association between T1 math attitudes and T3 perceived teacher support, on the other hand, was mediated by T2 math anxiety. Moreover, there were no significant gender differences in these associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Math anxiety and math attitudes objectively affected each other, and both of them significantly predicted later perceived teacher support, but not vice versa. This study demonstrates that children are not merely passive recipients of environmental influences and offers theoretical guidance for intervention practices that aim to reduce the risk of math anxiety.

Anxiety about Mathematics and Reading in Preadolescents Is Domain-Specific

It was investigated whether test anxiety (TA), mathematics anxiety (MA), and reading anxiety (RA) can be traced back to some type of general academic anxiety or whether these are separable. A total of 776 fifth graders (Mage = 10.9 years) completed questionnaires on TA, MA, and RA, as well as a mathematics test. Also, mathematics and reading performance results from the National Tracking System were requested. The sample was randomly split into two halves. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a three-factor model (factors: TA, MA, RA) had superior model fit compared with a one-factor model (factor: "Academic anxiety"), in both halves. The resulting anxiety factors were related to math performance measures using structural equation models. A scarcity of data on reading performance prevented the analysis of links between anxiety and reading performance. Anxiety-math performance relations were stronger for MA than for TA and MA. We concluded that TA, MA, and RA are separable constructs.

The Russian version of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale: psychometric properties in adolescents aged 13-16 years

This study is the first to assess the internal consistency and factor validity of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) in a sample of Russian adolescents as well as gender differences and gender invariance. The study included 4,218 adolescents in grades 7-9 (M = 14.23, SD = 0.92). Internal consistency, measured with Cronbach's alpha, was high. Analysis of the factor structure revealed the best correspondence of the second-order factor model, which included two scales (learning math anxiety and math evaluation anxiety) and the general scale of math anxiety. There were greater gender differences in the all three scales. Analysis of gender invariance demonstrated that the mathematics anxiety construct was uniform in boys and girls. These findings confirm the reliable psychometric properties and validity of the AMAS, enabling its use in adolescents.

Basic Symbolic Number Skills, but Not Formal Mathematics Performance, Longitudinally Predict Mathematics Anxiety in the First Years of Primary School

Mathematical anxiety (MA) and mathematics performance typically correlate negatively in studies of adolescents and adults, but not always amongst young children, with some theorists questioning the relevance of MA to mathematics performance in this age group. Evidence is also limited in relation to the developmental origins of MA and whether MA in young children can be linked to their earlier mathematics performance. To address these questions, the current study investigated whether basic and formal mathematics skills around 4 and 5 years of age were predictive of MA around the age of 7-8. Additionally, we also examined the cross-sectional relationships between MA and mathematics performance in 7-8-year-old children. Specifically, children in our study were assessed in their first (T1; aged 4-5), second (T2; aged 5-6), and fourth years of school (T3; aged 7-8). At T1 and T2, children completed measures of basic numerical skills, IQ, and working memory, as well as curriculum-based mathematics tests. At T3, children completed two self-reported MA questionnaires, together with a curriculum-based mathematics test. The results showed that MA could be reliably measured in a sample of 7-8-year-olds and demonstrated the typical negative correlation between MA and mathematical performance (although the strength of this relationship was dependent on the specific content domain). Importantly, although early formal mathematical skills were unrelated to later MA, there was evidence of a longitudinal relationship between basic early symbolic number skills and later MA, supporting the idea that poorer basic numerical skills relate to the development of MA.

Task-based attentional and default mode connectivity associated with science and math anxiety profiles among university physics students

PURPOSE

Attentional control theory (ACT) posits that elevated anxiety increases the probability of re-allocating cognitive resources needed to complete a task to processing anxiety-related stimuli. This process impairs processing efficiency and can lead to reduced performance effectiveness. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students frequently experience anxiety about their coursework, which can interfere with learning and performance and negatively impact student retention and graduation rates. The objective of this study was to extend the ACT framework to investigate the neurobiological associations between science and math anxiety and cognitive performance among 123 physics undergraduate students.

PROCEDURES

Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four profiles of science and math anxiety among STEM students, including two profiles that represented the majority of the sample (Low Science and Math Anxiety; 59.3% and High Math Anxiety; 21.9%) and two additional profiles that were not well represented (High Science and Math Anxiety; 6.5% and High Science Anxiety; 4.1%). Students underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session in which they performed two tasks involving physics cognition: the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) task and the Physics Knowledge (PK) task.

FINDINGS

No significant differences were observed in FCI or PK task performance between High Math Anxiety and Low Science and Math Anxiety students. During the three phases of the FCI task, we found no significant brain connectivity differences during scenario and question presentation, yet we observed significant differences during answer selection within and between the dorsal attention network (DAN), ventral attention network (VAN), and default mode network (DMN). Further, we found significant group differences during the PK task were limited to the DAN, including DAN-VAN and within-DAN connectivity.

CONCLUSIONS

These results highlight the different cognitive processes required for physics conceptual reasoning compared to physics knowledge retrieval, provide new insight into the underlying brain dynamics associated with anxiety and physics cognition, and confirm the relevance of ACT theory for science and math anxiety.

Assessment of math anxiety as a potential tool to identify students at risk of poor acquisition of new math skills: longitudinal study of grade 9 Italian students

Introduction

Numerous international educational institutions have sounded the alarm about the gradual increase in the number of students failing to achieve a sufficient level of proficiency in mathematical abilities. Thus, the growing interest in identifying possible solutions and factors interfering with learning seems justified. In recent years, special attention has accrued to the possible role played by emotional factors.

Methods

In the present investigation, students in the first grade of a technical vocational secondary school are followed to assess the influence of math anxiety (MA) on the development of skill acquisition in calculus. A math skills assessment test is administered on two occasions, at the beginning and end of the school year.

Results

Results highlighted that the score on the anxiety scale, administered at the beginning of the year, negatively correlated with the score obtained on the mathematics test, administered at the end of the school year: the higher the level of anxiety, the worse the performance. Furthermore, the score obtained in the second administration makes it possible to divide the students tested into two groups: students who improved their performance and students who did not benefit at all from repeating the test. In these two groups, an analysis of the relationships between the outcome of the end-of-year mathematics test and the level of MA at the beginning of the year showed that MA correlates negatively with performance only in students who will fail to acquire new expertise in mathematics over the course of the school year.

Discussion

The results suggest that MA may interfere with the smooth development of math skills. Assessing the level of MA at the beginning of the school year could prove to be a useful tool in identifying which and how many students are at risk of failing to achieve the skills expected from the usual course of instruction. A consideration of anxiety as one of the variables at play in the genesis of learning difficulties may prompt educators to modify teaching methodology and strategies by increasing focus on the impact of the emotional dimension on learning.

Metacognitive Cues, Working Memory, and Math Anxiety: The Regulated Attention in Mathematical Problem Solving (RAMPS) Framework

Mathematical problem solving is a process involving metacognitive (e.g., judging progress), cognitive (e.g., working memory), and affective (e.g., math anxiety) factors. Recent research encourages researchers who study math cognition to consider the role that the interaction between metacognition and math anxiety plays in mathematical problem solving. Problem solvers can make many metacognitive judgments during a math problem, ranging from global judgments such as, "Do I care to solve this problem?" to minor cue-based judgments such as, "Is my current strategy successful in making progress toward the correct solution?" Metacognitive monitoring can hinder accurate mathematical problem solving when the monitoring is task-irrelevant; however, task-relevant metacognitive experiences can lead to helpful control decisions in mathematical problem solving such as checking work, considering plausibility of an answer, and considering alternate strategies. Worry and negative thoughts (i.e., math anxiety) can both interfere with the accuracy of metacognitive experiences as cues in mathematical problem solving and lead to avoidance of metacognitive control decisions that could otherwise improve performance. The current paper briefly reviews and incorporates prior literature with current qualitative reports (n = 673) to establish a novel framework of regulated attention in mathematical problem solving (RAMPS).

The mediating effect of math self-efficacy on the relationship between parenting style and math anxiety

The present study aims to investigate the associations among math self-efficacy, parenting style, and math anxiety in primary school children. The sample comprised 400 participants, aged between 10 and 11 years old, from an elementary school in China. Participants completed three self-reported questionnaires on math anxiety, parenting styles and math self-efficacy. The results revealed that rejection was strongly and positively correlated with math anxiety, while emotional warmth was negatively related to math anxiety. Interestingly, math anxiety was found to be related to rejection, with math self-efficacy playing a mediating role in this relationship. Conversely, math self-efficacy played a mediating role in the relationship between parenting styles and math anxiety, while over protection exhibited no significant correlation with math anxiety. The study also showed that gender differences existed in the level of math anxiety and math self-efficacy, with boys exhibiting lower math anxiety and higher math self-efficacy than girls. These results provide important insights into the development and treatment of math anxiety in primary school children. Specifically, parents and educators should focus on enhancing children's math self-efficacy beliefs, while adopting a parenting style characterized by emotional warmth and low levels of rejection.

MATH ANXIETY AND THE SHIFTING FUNCTION: AN EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL STUDY OF ARITHMETIC TASK SWITCHING

Why is math anxiety usually related to less efficient math processing? According to attentional control theory, anxiety leads to reduced attentional control, which often entails a greater investment of resources (e.g., more time or effort) to carry out a cognitive task. The executive functions mainly affected by anxiety are inhibition and shifting. Previous studies suggest that math anxiety may impair the inhibitory function. In the present study, the relationship between math anxiety and shifting efficiency when switching between two-digit additions and subtractions was examined. Twenty highly math-anxious and 20 low math-anxious individuals participated in an event-related potential (ERP) transition-cueing experiment. Math anxiety was expected to delay the shifting process, leading to a larger switch cost in response time and no centroparietal cue-locked switch-specific positivity registered in the electroencephalogram during the cue-target interval. Highly math-anxious individuals showed a larger switch cost than their low math-anxious peers. Asymmetrical switch effects between operations in response time were found in both groups, which might be due to larger sequential difficulty effects after subtractions than after additions. The cue-locked switch-specific positivity was present only in the low math-anxious group. The present results suggest that highly math-anxious individuals take longer to shift task sets. Additionally, the highly math-anxious group showed a more positive frontal P2 after the cue that announced a switch to subtraction, probably indicating stronger attentional capture by this cue, because the most threatening condition is anticipated. Taken together, these data suggest that math anxiety also impairs attentional control when switching between arithmetic tasks.

Symbolic number ordering strategies and math anxiety

Math anxiety results in a drop in performance on various math-related tasks, including the symbolic number ordering task in which participants decide whether a triplet of digits is presented in order (e.g. 3-5-7) or not (e.g. 3-7-5). We investigated whether the strategy repertoire and reaction times during a symbolic ordering task were affected by math anxiety. In study 1, participants performed an untimed symbolic number ordering task and indicated the strategy they used on a trial-by-trial basis. The use of the memory retrieval strategy, based on the immediate recognition of the triplet, decreased with high math anxiety, but disappeared when controlling for general anxiety. In the study 2, participants completed a timed version of the number order task. High math-anxious participants used the decomposition strategy (e.g. 5 is larger than 3 and 7 is larger than 5 to decide whether 3-5-7 is in the correct order) more often, and were slower in responding when both memory- and other decomposition strategies were used. Altogether, both studies demonstrate that high-math anxious participants are not only slower to decide whether a number triplet is in the correct order, but also rely more on procedural strategies.

How are different math knowledge presentations associated with math anxiety?

A close relationship between math performance and math anxiety has been demonstrated, but how different presentations of mathematics are associated with math anxiety has not been investigated. This study recruited 826 elementary school students in grades 5 and 6. All students were given math trait and state anxiety questionnaires; a nonverbal matrix reasoning task; and verbalized, symbolic, and situational fraction problem-solving tasks. After data cleaning, 475 boys and 323 girls (798 in total) were included in the analysis (mean age = 11.79, SD = 0.82). Partial correlation analysis showed that students' math traits and state anxiety were more closely related to symbolic fraction problem-solving than to verbalized and situational fraction problem-solving. Mixed linear model analysis showed that math state anxiety for symbolic problem-solving was significantly greater than that for verbalized and situational problem-solving. Based on these findings, we concluded that the presentation of symbolic math is more likely to induce math anxiety than verbalized or situational math. This finding has potential practical applications in math anxiety interventions and education.

The Arabic version of the modified-abbreviated math anxiety scale: Psychometric properties, gender differences, and associations with different forms of anxiety and math achievement

Background

This study examined the psychometric properties (factor structure, measurement invariance, convergent and criterion validity, inter-correlations, and reliabilities) of an Arabic version of the modified-Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (m-AMAS) and gender differences in math anxiety in an Arabic speaking Middle Eastern country, Qatar.

Methods

A large sample of students in grade 7 to 10 (N = 731) completed the m-AMAS, three different scales to measure science anxiety, test anxiety, and general anxiety, as well as a scholastic math achievement test.

Results

The two-factor structure of the m-AMAS was confirmed, with good to adequate reliabilities, and its compositional measurement invariance was established across girls and boys in the four grades. In addition, math anxiety correlated positively with science anxiety, test anxiety, and general anxiety. Regression analyses showed that math anxiety was negatively associated with math achievement, even when test anxiety, science anxiety, and general anxiety were considered. Furthermore, girls showed higher math anxiety than boys.

Conclusion

These adequate psychometric properties of the Arabic m-AMAS suggest that the construct of math anxiety has a cross-cultural similarity.

Does my daughter like math? Relations between parent and child math attitudes and beliefs

As early as age six, girls report higher math anxiety than boys, and children of both genders begin to endorse the stereotype that males are better at math than females. However, very few studies have examined the emergence of math attitudes in childhood, or the role parents may play in their transmission. The present study is the first to investigate the concordance of multiple implicit and explicit math attitudes and beliefs between 6- and 10-year-old children and their parents. Data from implicit association tasks (IATs) reveal that both parents and their children have implicit associations between math and difficulty, but only parents significantly associated math with males. Notably, males (fathers and sons) were more likely than females (mothers and daughters) to identify as someone who likes math (instead of reading), suggesting gender differences in academic preferences emerge early and remain consistent throughout adulthood. Critically, we provide the first evidence that both mothers' and fathers' attitudes about math relate to a range of math attitudes and beliefs held by their children, particularly their daughters. Results suggest that girls may be especially sensitive to parental math attitudes and beliefs. Together, data indicate that children entering formal school already show some negative math attitudes and beliefs and that parents' math attitudes may have a disproportionate impact on young girls.

Exploring control-value motivational profiles of mathematics anxiety, self-concept, and interest in adolescents

In this study, we identified multidimensional profiles in students' math anxiety, math self-concept, and math interest using data from a large generalizable sample of 16,547 9th grade students in the United States who participated in the National Study of Learning Mindsets. We also analyzed the extent that students' profile memberships are associated with related measures such as prior mathematics achievement, academic stress, and challenge-seeking behavior. Five multidimensional profiles were identified: two profiles which demonstrated relatively high levels of interest and self-concept, along with low math anxiety, in line with the tenets of the control-value theory of academic emotions (C-VTAE); two profiles which demonstrated relatively low levels of interest and self-concept, and high levels of math anxiety (again in accordance with C-VTAE); and one profile, comprising more than 37% of the total sample, which demonstrated medium levels of interest, high levels of self-concept, and medium levels of anxiety. All five profiles varied significantly from one another in their association with the distal variables of challenge seeking behavior, prior mathematics achievement, and academic stress. This study contributes to the literature on math anxiety, self-concept, and interest by identifying and validating student profiles that mainly align with the control-value theory of academic emotions in a large, generalizable sample.

Unraveling the role of math anxiety in students' math performance

Math anxiety (MA; i.e., feelings of anxiety experienced when being confronted with mathematics) can have negative implications on the mental health and well-being of individuals and is moderately negatively correlated with math achievement. Nevertheless, ambiguity about some aspects related to MA may prevent a fathomed understanding of this systematically observed relationship. The current study set out to bring these aspects together in a comprehensive study. Our first focus of interest was the multi-component structure of MA, whereby we investigated the relationship between state- and trait-MA and math performance (MP) and whether this relation depends on the complexity of a math task. Second, the domain-specificity of MA was considered by examining the contribution of general anxiety (GA) and MA on MP and whether MA also influences the performance in non-math tasks. In this study, 181 secondary school students aged between 16 and 18 years old were randomly presented with four tasks (varying in topic [math/non-math] and complexity [easy/difficult]). The math task was a fraction comparison task and the non-math task was a color comparison task, in which specific indicators were manipulated to develop an easy and difficult version of the tasks. For the first research question, results showed a moderate correlation between state- and trait-MA, which is independent of the complexity of the math task. Regression analyses showed that while state-MA affects MP in the easy math task, it is trait-MA that affects MP in the difficult math task. For the second research question, a high correlation was observed between GA and MA, but regression analyses showed that GA is not related to MP and MA has no predictive value for performance in non-math tasks. Taken together, this study underscores the importance of distinguishing between state and trait-MA in further research and suggests that MA is domain-specific.

Math anxiety as an independent psychological construct among social-emotional attitudes: An exploratory factor analysis

Math anxiety is a widespread problem for children and adolescents worldwide. However, the psychological trait of math anxiety is poorly understood. The present study aimed to examine the psychological construct of math anxiety among social-emotional attitudes. A total of 28,726 students, including 17,378 fourth graders and 11,348 eighth graders, were selected from the Qingdao Basic Education Quality Assessment database using multi-stage cluster random sampling. There were 10 questionnaires assessing social-emotional attitudes in the database. Pearson's correlation analyses were performed to examine the intercorrelations between social-emotional attitudes and mathematical performance. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to examine the psychological structure of these 10 social-emotional attitudes. After controlling for other social-emotional attitudes, math anxiety had a weak but significant correlation to mathematical performance in most subtests across grades. Among three-factor, four-factor, and five-factor EFA models, math anxiety was an independent factor that was separate from other social-emotional attitudes across six parallel subtests in grades four and eight. Math anxiety is a stable and independent psychological construct that is separate from other social-emotional attitudes. It suggests that math anxiety should be considered as a distinct anxiety disorder specific to mathematical learning in subsequent versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Appraisals of previous math experiences play an important role in math anxiety

Math anxiety affects many people, from young children through to older adults. While there has been debate concerning the developmental trajectory of math anxiety and negative math attitudes, little attention has been given to the role of appraisals of previous math experiences. We surveyed 308 adults (mean age = 27.56 years, SD = 11.25) and assessed self-reported measures of math anxiety, mathematical resilience, math attitudes, and appraisal of previous math experiences. As hypothesized, all variables were found to be interrelated. Math anxiety was significantly negatively related to appraisal of previous math experiences, mathematical resilience, and math attitudes. Moreover, appraisal of previous math experiences was shown to mediate the relations between (1) math anxiety and math attitudes, and (2) mathematical resilience and math attitudes. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering current appraisals of previous math experiences and are consistent with an interpretation account of math anxiety. This may help inform cognitive-based interventions that focus on one's interpretation of past events to support current and future math learning and engagement.

Estimation Strategy Selection Is Modulated by Snapshot Emotional Priming, but Not Math Anxiety

The present study explored the role of snapshot emotional priming and math anxiety in estimation strategy selection. Participants were asked to complete a two-digit multiplication estimation task (e.g., 34 × 67) under explicit (Experiment 1) and implicit (Experiment 2) snapshot emotional priming conditions by freely choosing to use DU (down-up, e.g., doing 30 × 70 = 2100 for 34 × 67) or UD (up-down, e.g., doing 40 × 60 = 2400 for 34 × 67) strategies to arrive as close as possible to the correct answer. In Experiment 1, individuals' estimation performance was positively influenced by explicit happy priming (shorter RT (reaction time)), while not affected by explicit fear priming. In Experiment 2, individuals' estimation ACC (accuracy) when using the UD strategy was negatively affected by both implicit happy and fear priming, but their RT when using DU and UD strategies was positively impacted by implicit happy priming. In both experiments, the correlations between math anxiety and estimation performance (ACC, RT, and strategy selection adaptivity) was not significant. The present study suggests that fear priming was not always detrimental to individuals' estimation performance, and happy priming did not always universally improve individuals' estimation performance. Additionally, estimation strategy selection was not influenced by math anxiety.

Longitudinal and situational associations between math anxiety and performance among early adolescents

Studies have found math anxiety and achievement to be related from the beginning of formal schooling, but the knowledge regarding the direction of the relationship is vague. The purpose of the present study was to study this relationship. We investigated math anxiety from two points of view: trait and state anxiety. In the first substudy, we investigated the longitudinal relationship between math anxiety and performance from sixth to seventh grade (n = 848) with cross-lagged modeling. In the second substudy, we investigated the situational relationship of anxiety and performance by giving the participants (n = 149) challenging and nonchallenging math tasks adapted to their skill level, and then examining the association between anxiety and the performance. The results suggest that math anxiety has a small longitudinal effect on performance: High anxiety in sixth grade predicted low performance in seventh grade. Anxiety also had a situational association with performance: when anxiety was aroused, the participants performed more poorly compared to their skill level. The results adduce the two-fold effect of anxiety on achievement: math anxiety seems to have both a real-time association with performance and a long-term effect on the development of basic arithmetic skills.

The Impact of Parents' Intelligence Mindset on Math Anxiety of Boys and Girls and the Role of Parents' Failure Beliefs and Evaluation of Child's Math Performance as Mediators

This study aimed to examine the relationship between parents' intelligence mindset and children's math anxiety and the mediating role of parents' failure mindset and evaluations of their child's math performance. A total of 419 Chinese students (196 boys and 223 girls) and their parents were recruited to complete a series of questionnaires on topics such as math anxiety, parent's failure mindset, parent's intelligence mindset, and parents' evaluations of their child's mathematical performance. The results revealed that parents' intelligence mindset was not correlated with children's math anxiety. However, parents' intelligence mindset indirectly predicted children's math anxiety through the chain-mediated role of parents' failure beliefs and parents' evaluations of their child's math performance. Further, sex differences were found through a multigroup analysis, which showed a chain-mediated effect between parents' intelligence mindset and girls' math anxiety.

MAOA-LPR polymorphism and math anxiety: A marker of genetic susceptibility to social influences in girls?

Math anxiety (MA) seems to result from an interaction of genetic vulnerability with negative experiences learning mathematics. Although mathematics achievement does not substantially differ between the sexes, MA levels are usually higher in girls. Molecular genetic markers of MA vulnerability have been seldom explored. This article examines the contribution of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) to MA and to sex differences in MA. Five hundred and sixty-eight third to fifth graders were genotyped for the MAOA-LPR polymorphism (a repetitive element in MAOA promoter that has been associated with MAOA enzymatic activity), and assessed on general cognitive ability, mathematics achievement, and the cognitive and affective dimensions of MA. MAOA-LPR genotypes were classified as high (MAOA-H) or low (MAOA-L) according to their predicted enzymatic activity. Mixed models controlling for effects of school, sex, general cognitive ability, and mathematics achievement were evaluated. The best fitting model included school, math achievement, sex, MAOA-LPR, and the MAOA-LPR by sex interaction. This indicated that under the MAOA-H dominant model, anxiety toward mathematics interacted with the MAOA genotype: girls with an MAOA-L genotype exhibited higher levels of MA, with a small but significant effect. The association between MAOA-L genotype and MA in girls may represent an example of developmental plasticity.

The role of the classroom learning environment in students' mathematics anxiety: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Math anxiety is a common experience that interferes with learning and achievement in mathematics. Considering that mathematics learning mostly takes place within the classroom, it is critical to examine how math anxiety develops in this context.

AIMS

The purpose of the current scoping review was to identify classroom-learning environment factors associated with math anxiety in elementary and high school students.

SAMPLE(S)

Out of an initial sample of 3011 studies, 28 were eligible for inclusion.

METHODS

Data on author(s), publication year, and study location; sample demographics; classroom variables; intervention details (if applicable); measures; and key results were extracted from articles.

RESULTS

Numerous protective and vulnerability factors were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Directions for future research and methodological implications were explored.

Evaluation of math anxiety and its remediation through a digital training program in mathematics for first and second graders

INTRODUCTION

Math anxiety severely impacts individuals' learning and future success. However, limited is understood about the profile in East Asian cultures where students genuinely show high-level math anxiety, despite that they outperform their Western counterparts. Here, we investigate the relation between math anxiety and math achievement in children as young as first and second graders in Taiwan. Further, we evaluate whether intensive exposure to digital game-based learning in mathematics could ameliorate math anxiety.

METHODS

The study first evaluated a group of 159 first and second graders' math anxiety and its correlation with math performance. Subsequently, a quasi-experimental design was adopted: 77 of the children continued and participated in multi-component digital game training targeting enumeration, speeded calculation, and working memory. Post-assessment was administered afterward for further evaluation of training-associated effects.

RESULTS

Results confirmed that math anxiety was negatively associated with school math achievement, which assessed numerical knowledge and arithmetic calculation. Furthermore, children's math anxiety was remarkably reduced via digital training in mathematics after 6-week intensive remediation. Crucially, this math anxiety relief was more prominent in those with high-level math anxiety. Although the children who underwent the training showed training-induced math achievement and working memory enhancement, this cognitive improvement appeared to be independent of the math anxiety relief.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrate that students can show highly negative emotions and perceptions toward learning even in high-achieving countries. Auspiciously, the feeling of distress toward learning has the feasibility to be relieved from short-term intensive training. Our study suggests a new approach of early treatments to emotional disturbance that can lead to permanent consequences in individuals.

What does gender has to do with math? Complex questions require complex answers

Whether mathematics is a gendered domain or not is a long-lasting issue bringing along major social and educational implications. The females' underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has been considered one of the key signs of the math gender gap, although the current view largely attributes the origin of this phenomenon to sociocultural factors. Indeed, recent approaches to math gender differences reached the universal conclusion that nature and nurture exert reciprocal effects on each other, establishing the need for approaching the study of the math gender issue only once its intrinsic complexity has been accepted. Building upon a flourishing literature, this review provides an updated synthesis of the evidence for math gender equality at the start, and for math gender inequality on the go, challenging the role of biological factors. In particular, by combining recent findings from different research areas, the paper discusses the persistence of the "math male myth" and the associated "female are not good at math myth," drawing attention to the complex interplay of social and cultural forces that support such stereotypes. The suggestion is made that longevity of these myths results from the additive effects of two independent cognitive biases associated with gender stereotypes and with math stereotypes, respectively. Scholars' responsibility in amplifying these myths by pursuing some catching lines of research is also discussed.

Executive functions, math anxiety and math performance in middle school students

Previous studies mainly investigated working memory (WM) and math anxiety (MA) leaving almost unexplored other aspects of executive functions (EFs) in middle school period. Filling the gap in the literature, the aims of this study were: (1) to better examine the relationship between MA and math performance, (2) to better examine the relationship between EFs and math performance and (3) to investigate the interplay between EFs and MA on math performances. This study confirmed a significant and negative relationship between MA and math performance, indicates a significant and positive relationship between visuospatial WM and math performance, shifting and math performance and highlight a scarcely investigated indirect influence of MA through the measure of shifting on math performance. Our findings shed further light on the mediating role of EFs between MA and math performance and underline some future perspectives.

Math anxiety and deficient executive control: does reappraisal modulate this link?

The literature suggests an interplay between executive control functions and emotion regulation processes, with each playing a key role in math anxiety. We examined the relation between the use of two different emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal and suppression) and the ability to reduce emotional interference in high‐conflict situations (i.e., executive control of attention) in cases of math anxiety. A sample of 107 adults completed emotion regulation tendencies and math anxiety questionnaires and performed a flanker task following the priming of a math‐related or negative word. The findings revealed: (1) highly math‐anxious individuals had difficulty controlling emotional distractions induced by math information, even as simple as math‐related words, in high‐conflict conditions; and (2) the tendency to use reappraisal in everyday situations was associated with math‐anxious individuals’ ability to avoid heightened emotional reactions when encountering math‐related (i.e., threatening) information. These findings point to the efficacy of reappraisal‐focused intervention and suggest an innovative mechanism through which reappraisal reduces emotional reactions and improves performance among math‐anxious individuals, indicating a new way to approach interventions for math anxiety.

Spatialization in working memory and its relation to math anxiety

Working memory (WM) is one of the most important cognitive functions that may play a role in the relation between math anxiety (MA) and math performance. The processing efficiency theory proposes that rumination and worrisome thoughts (induced by MA) result in less available WM resources (which are needed to solve math problems). At the same time, high MA individuals have lower verbal and spatial WM capacity in general. Extending these findings, we found that MA is also linked to the spatial coding of serial order in verbal WM: subjects who organize sequences from left-to-right in verbal WM show lower levels of MA compared with those who do not spatialize. Furthermore, these spatial coders have higher verbal WM capacity, better numerical order judgment abilities, and higher math scores. These findings suggest that spatially structuring the verbal mind is a promising cognitive correlate of MA and opens new avenues for exploring causal links between elementary cognitive processes and MA.

Math anxiety differentially impairs symbolic, but not nonsymbolic, fraction skills across development

Although important for the acquisition of later math skills, fractions are notoriously difficult. Previous studies have shown that higher math anxiety (MA) is associated with lower performance in symbolic fraction tasks in adults and have suggested that MA may negatively impact the acquisition of fractions in children. However, the effects of MA on fraction skills in school-aged children remain underexplored. We, therefore, investigated the impact of MA on the performance of younger (second and third graders) and older (fifth and sixth graders) children in math fluency (MF), written calculation, fraction knowledge (FK), and symbolic fraction and nonsymbolic ratio processing. On the basis of our prior work suggesting a perceptual foundation for fraction processing, we predicted that symbolic, but not nonsymbolic, math skills (especially fractions) would be impaired by MA. As predicted, higher MA was associated with lower performance in general mathematics achievement and symbolic fraction tasks, but nonsymbolic ratio processing was not affected by MA in either age group. Furthermore, working memory capacity partially mediated the effects of MA on general mathematics achievement, FK, and symbolic fraction processing. These results suggest that understanding the bidirectional interactions between MA and fractions may be important for helping children acquire these critical skills.

Disentangling the individual and contextual effects of math anxiety: A global perspective

Using three large-scale international assessments of student achievement, the current study examined the antecedents of math anxiety and the relation between math anxiety and math achievement across the globe. Results suggest that individual math anxiety is negatively associated with math achievement across the globe. Importantly, we uncovered a contextual effect of math anxiety where the level of math anxiety in one’s educational peer group predicts math achievement above and beyond what could be predicted by one’s own math anxiety. Further, there is significant between-country variability in this contextual effect—only half of the examined countries’ contextual effect was statistically significant. Our results reveal an effect of educational peer’s math anxiety on math achievement and reinforce extant research findings.

Math anxiety is a common affective disorder in students that is characterized by intrusive thoughts that disrupt critical cognitive resources required for math problem-solving. Consistent associations between math anxiety and math achievement have been observed across countries and age groups, placing math anxiety among other important correlates of math achievement, such as socioeconomic status and magnitude representation ability. However, studies examining math anxiety’s relation to achievement have largely focused on the effect of students’ own math anxiety (individual effect), while little is known regarding the effect of math anxiety in students’ educational context (contextual effect). Using three international studies of achievement (n = 1,175,515), we estimated both the individual and contextual effects of math anxiety across the globe. Results suggest that while there are consistent individual effects in virtually all countries examined, the contextual effects are varied, with only approximately half of the countries exhibiting a contextual effect. Additionally, we reveal that teacher confidence in teaching math is associated with a reduction of the individual effect, and country’s level of uncertainty avoidance is related to a lessening of the contextual effect. Finally, we uncovered multiple predictors of math anxiety; notably, student perception of teacher competence was negative related with math anxiety, and parental homework involvement was positively related with math anxiety. Taken together, these results suggest that there are significant between-country differences in how math anxiety may be related with math achievement and suggest that education and cultural contexts as important considerations in understanding math anxiety’s effects on achievement.

Working Memory and Its Mediating Role on the Relationship of Math Anxiety and Math Performance: A Meta-Analysis

It is well established that math anxiety has a negative relationship with math performance (MP). A few theories have provided explanations for this relationship. One of them, the Attentional Control Theory (ACT), suggests that anxiety can negatively impact the attentional control system and increase one's attention to threat-related stimuli. Within the ACT framework, the math anxiety (MA)-working memory (WM) relationship is argued to be critical for math performance. The present meta-analyses provides insights into the mechanisms of the MA-MP relation and the mediating role of WM. Through database searches with pre-determined search strings, 1,346 unique articles were identified. After excluding non-relevant studies, data from 57 studies and 150 effect sizes were used for investigating the MA-MP correlation using a random-effects model. This resulted in a mean correlation of r = -0.168. The database search of WM as a mediator for the MA-MP relation revealed 15 effects sizes leading to a descriptive rather than a generalizable statistic, with a mean indirect effect size of -0.092. Overall, the results confirm the ACT theory, WM does play a significant role in the MA-MP relationship.

A multidimensional examination of math anxiety and engagement on math achievement

BACKGROUND

Math anxiety (MA) and math achievement are generally negatively associated.

AIMS

This study investigated whether and how classroom engagement behaviors mediate the negative association between MA and math achievement.

SAMPLE

Data were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study that examines the roles of affective factors in math learning. Participants consisted of 207 students from 4th through 6th grade (50% female).

METHODS

Math anxiety was measured by self-report using the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children (Chiu & Henry, 1990, Measurement and valuation in Counseling and Development, 23, 121). Students self-reported their engagement in math classrooms using a modified version of the Math and Science Engagement Scale (Wang et al., 2016, Learning and Instruction, 43, 16). Math achievement was assessed using the Applied Problem, Calculations, and Number Matrices subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement (Schrank et al., 2014, Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement. Riverside). Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the mediating role of classroom engagement in the association between MA and math achievement.

RESULTS

Students with higher MA demonstrated less cognitive-behavioral and emotional engagement compared to students with lower MA. Achievement differences among students with various levels of MA were partly accounted for by their cognitive-behavioral engagement in the math classroom.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, students with high MA exhibit avoidance patterns in everyday learning, which may act as a potential mechanism for explaining why high MA students underperform their low MA peers.

The interplay between math anxiety and working memory on math performance: a longitudinal study

Mathematical skills are essential to mastering everyday activities, making professional choices, and exercising citizenship in a numerate society. There is extensive evidence of the relationship between math anxiety (MA) and working memory (WM) influencing math attainment. Studies have mainly considered adult samples, however, leaving primary school children almost unexplored. This study is a first attempt to examine how the complex interplay between MA and WM affects math achievement from a developmental perspective. A total of 148 third graders were assessed with WM, general anxiety (GA), MA, and math tasks. Anxiety and WM were assessed at the beginning of the school year when children started attending grade 3, while math achievement was tested twice at the start of grades 3 and 4. The findings seem to confirm that GA has both a direct and an indirect effect (mediated by WM) on math performance in third and fourth graders. MA has a direct effect on math performance in grade 4, but only an indirect effect in grade 3, suggesting MA has a developmental trajectory, becoming stronger over time. The implications in the educational setting are discussed, pointing to the importance of a combined intervention on MA and WM.

Math Anxiety Is Related to Math Difficulties and Composed of Emotion Regulation and Anxiety Predisposition: A Network Analysis Study

Current evidence suggests emotion regulation is an important factor in both math anxiety and math performance, but the interplay between these constructs is unexamined. Given the multicomponent structure of math anxiety, emotion regulation, and math performance, here, we aimed to provide a comprehensive model of the underlying nature of the links between these latent variables. Using the innovative network analysis approach, the study visualized the underlying links between directly observable and measurable variables that might be masked by traditional statistical approaches. One hundred and seventeen adults completed a battery of tests and questionnaires on math anxiety, emotion regulation, and math performance. The results revealed: (1) state math anxiety (the emotional experience in math-related situations), rather than trait math anxiety, was linked to anxiety predisposition, subjective valence of math information, and difficulties in emotion regulation; (2) the link between state math anxiety and math performance partialed out the link between trait math anxiety and performance. The study innovatively demonstrates the need to differentiate between traits and tendencies to the actual emotional experience and emotion regulation used in math anxiety. The results have important implications for the theoretical understanding of math anxiety and future discussions and work in the field.

A latent profile analysis of math anxiety and core beliefs toward mathematics among children

Recent findings on the negative impacts of math anxiety (MA) have raised questions for educational and clinical research regarding effective intervention programs. One basic approach for developing intervention programs in the field of cognitive behavioral therapy is to gain an in-depth understanding of the cognitive beliefs of children with a specific mental problem. By applying latent profile analysis (LPA), the present study aimed at identifying different patterns of MA and providing further insights into its cognitive phenomenology. For this purpose, trait-MA, state-MA, attitudes toward math, academic self-concepts, fixed/growth mindsets, executive functions, and math performance of 475 fourth and fifth graders (48.2% girls) were assessed. LPA indicated seven distinct profiles characterized by different dimensions and patterns of state-MA, trait-MA, and core beliefs toward math. Furthermore, the profiles showed clearly different math performances. The weakest performances were found for a profile with highest state-MA, high trait-MA, and negative cognitive beliefs toward math and a profile with average state-MA, high trait-MA, and negative cognitive beliefs toward math, whereas the highest achieving profile had no state-MA, high trait-MA, and very positive cognitive beliefs toward math. The findings underline the complexity of MA and emphasize the necessity to develop interventions with careful consideration of the heterogeneous patterns.

Neural evidence for cognitive reappraisal as a strategy to alleviate the effects of math anxiety

Math anxiety (MA) describes feelings of tension, apprehension and fear that interfere with math performance. High MA (HMA) is correlated with negative consequences, including lower math grades, and ultimately an avoidance of quantitative careers. Given these adverse consequences, it is essential to explore effective intervention strategies to reduce MA. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigated the efficacy of cognitive reappraisal as a strategy to alleviate the effects of MA. Cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy, has been shown to decrease negative affect and amygdala responsivity to stimuli that elicit negative emotion. We compared a reappraisal strategy to participants’ natural strategy for solving math problems and analogies. We found that HMA individuals showed an increase in accuracy and a decrease in negative affect during the reappraisal condition as compared to the control condition. During math reappraise trials, increased activity in a network of regions associated with arithmetic correlated with improved performance for HMA individuals. These results suggest that increased engagement of arithmetic regions underlies the performance increases we identify in HMA students when they use reappraisal to augment their math performance. Overall, cognitive reappraisal is a promising strategy for enhancing math performance and reducing anxiety in math anxious individuals.

The Association Between Emotion Regulation, Physiological Arousal, and Performance in Math Anxiety

Emotion regulation (ER) strategies may reduce the negative relationship between math anxiety and mathematics accuracy, but different strategies may differ in their effectiveness. We recorded electrodermal activity (EDA) to examine the effect of physiological arousal on performance during different applied ER strategies. We explored how ER strategies might affect the decreases in accuracy attributed to physiological arousal in high math anxious (HMA) individuals. Participants were instructed to use cognitive reappraisal (CR), expressive suppression (ES), or a “business as usual” strategy. During the ES condition, HMA individuals showed decreases in math accuracy associated with increased EDA, compared to low math anxious (LMA) individuals. For both HMA and LMA groups, CR reduced the association between physiological arousal and math accuracy, such that even elevated physiological arousal levels no longer had a negative association with math accuracy. These results show that CR provides a promising technique for ameliorating the negative relationship between math anxiety and math accuracy.

True Grit in Learning Math: The Math Anxiety-Achievement Link Is Mediated by Math-Specific Grit

In this study, we tested a possible mechanism of the association between math anxiety and math achievement: the mediating role of math-specific grit (i.e., sustaining effort in the face of adversity when learning math). In Study 1, a sample of 10th grade students (N = 222) completed a battery of personality and attitude questionnaires, and math achievement was indexed by curriculum-based examination scores. Mediation analyses indicated that math-specific grit, but not domain-general grit, mediated the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement. In Study 2, we replicated and extended the above findings with another sample of 11th grade students (N = 465). Mediation analyses indicated that math-specific grit and math-specific procrastination played sequential mediating roles in the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement. That is, individuals with higher math anxiety were less gritty in math learning, possibly further leading them to be more procrastinated in performing math work, which may finally result in worse math achievement. In summary, the current study provides the first evidence that math-specific grit may mediate the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement. Furthermore, it also demonstrated the value of math-specific grit over domain-general grit in predicting math success, which invites a broader investigation on subject-specific grit.

Processing of Ordinal Information in Math-Anxious Individuals

This study aimed to investigate whether the ordinal judgments of high math-anxious (HMA) and low math-anxious (LMA) individuals differ. Two groups of 20 participants with extreme scores on the Shortened Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (sMARS) had to decide whether a triplet of numbers was presented in ascending order. Triplets could contain one-digit or two-digit numbers and be formed by consecutive numbers (counting condition), numbers with a constant distance of two or three (balanced) or numbers with variable distances between them (neutral). All these triplets were also presented unordered: sequence order in these trials could be broken at the second (D2) or third (D3) number. A reverse distance effect (worse performance for ordered balanced than for counting trials) of equal size was found in both anxiety groups. However, HMA participants made more judgment errors than their LMA peers when they judged one-digit counting ordered triplets. This effect was related to worse performance of HMA individuals on a symmetry span test and might be related to group differences on working memory. Importantly, HMAs were less accurate than LMA participants at rejecting unordered D2 sequences. This result is interpreted in terms of worse cognitive flexibility in HMA individuals.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Mediates the Relation Between "Specific Math Anxiety" and Arithmetic Speed

There is a growing consensus that math anxiety highly correlates with trait anxiety and that the emotional component elicited by math anxiety affects math performance. Yet few studies have examined the impact of “specific math anxiety” (high math anxiety and low other kinds of anxiety) on math performance and the underlying physiological and affective mechanism. The present study examines the mediation effect of heart rate variability—an affective measurement indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)—in the relationship between specific math anxiety and arithmetic speed. A total of 386 junior high school students completed a self-reported questionnaire to measure their anxiety level. Among this sample, 29 individuals with specific math anxiety (high math anxiety and low reading and trait anxiety), 29 with specific reading anxiety (high reading anxiety and low math and trait anxiety), 24 with specific trait anxiety (high trait anxiety and low math and reading anxiety), and 22 controls (low math, trait and reading anxiety) were selected to participate in an arithmetic task and a reading task while RSA was recorded when they performed the tasks. Results revealed that individuals with specific math anxiety showed lower RSA and longer reaction time than the other three groups in the arithmetic task. Regression and mediation analyses further revealed that RSA mediated the relation between specific math anxiety and arithmetic speed. The present study provides the first account of evidence for the affective hypothesis of specific math anxiety and suggests that affective responses may be an important mechanism underlying the detrimental effect of specific math anxiety on math performance.

Students' Motivation and Affection Profiles and Their Relation to Mathematics Achievement, Persistence, and Behaviors

Objective

We aimed to explore profiles of subgroups of United States students based on their motivational and affective characteristics and investigate the differences in math-related behaviors, persistence, and math achievement across profiles.

Method

We used 1,464 United States students (male 743 51%, female 721 49%, age 15.82 ± 0.28) from PISA 2012 United States data in our study. First, we employed latent profile analysis and secondary clustering to identify subgroups of students based on motivational (math self-concept, interest in math, perceived control, and instrumental motivation) and affective factors (math anxiety). Next, we used regression to compare differences in math behavior, persistence, and achievement among all identified subgroups.

Results

We found five distinct groups of students with different patterns of motivation and affection. The subgroup of students with the lowest math anxiety and the highest motivation levels showed the highest math achievement and levels of persistence. The groups with high math interest, math self-concept, and instrumental motivation showed the most frequent math-related behaviors.

Conclusions

Our findings reveal the complexity of the students’ motivational and affective profiles. Our findings are significant for teachers and educators to understand the diversity of students and provide theoretical and practical support for individualized and differentiated instruction.

Elementary school teachers' math anxiety and students' math learning: A large-scale replication

A solid foundation in math is important for children's long-term academic success. Many factors influence children's math learning-including the math content students are taught in school, the quality of their instruction, and the math attitudes of students' teachers. Using a large and diverse sample of first-grade students (n = 551), we conducted a large-scale replication of a previous study (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2010, 1860; n = 117), which found that girls in classes with highly math anxious teachers learned less math during the school year, as compared to girls whose math teachers were less anxious about math. With a larger sample, we found a negative relation between teachers' math anxiety and students' math achievement for both girls and boys, even after accounting for teachers' math ability and children's beginning of year math knowledge, replicating and extending those previous results. Our findings strengthen the support for the hypothesis that teachers' math anxiety is one factor that undermines children's math learning and could push students off-track during their initial exposure to math in early elementary school.

Psychometric Properties, Factor Structure, and Gender and Educational Level Invariance of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) in Spanish Children and Adolescents

The present study aimed to investigate the factor structure and degree of measurement invariance of a Spanish adaptation of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) in primary and secondary school students (N = 1,504 students, 46.08% males, 7-19 years of age). The results of confirmatory factor analysis corroborated the original two-factor structure, although a modified two-factor model with one item loading simultaneously on both factors was better supported. Full measurement invariance was observed across gender, and partial measurement invariance was achieved across educational levels (primary and secondary education). The AMAS showed reasonable internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. These results highlight the utility of the AMAS as a measure of math anxiety in primary and secondary school students whose scores can be compared by gender and educational level.

The Early Elementary School Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (the EES-AMAS): A New Adapted Version of the AMAS to Measure Math Anxiety in Young Children

In the past decade, there has been increasing interest in understanding how and when math anxiety (MA) develops. The incidence and effects of MA in primary school children, and its relations with math achievement, have been investigated. Nevertheless, only a few studies have focused on the first years of primary school, highlighting that initial signs of MA may emerge as early as 6 years of age. Nevertheless, there are some issues with measuring MA in young children. One of these is that, although several scales have been recently developed for this age group, the psychometric properties of most of these instruments have not been adequately tested. There is also no agreement in the number and identity of the factors that underlie MA at this young age. Some scales also consist of several items, which make them impractical to use in multivariate studies, which aim at the simultaneous measurement of several constructs. Finally, most scales have been developed and validated in US populations, and it is unclear if they are appropriate to be used in other countries. In order to address these issues, the current studies aimed at developing a short, new instrument to assess MA in early elementary school students, the Early Elementary School Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (the EES-AMAS). This scale is an adapted version of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS; Hopko et al., 2003), which is one of the most commonly used scales to measure MA and has been shown to be a valid and reliable measure across a number of countries and age groups. The psychometric properties of the new scale have been investigated by taking into account its dimensionality, reliability, and validity. Moreover, the gender invariance of the scale has been verified by showing the measurement equivalence of the scale when administered to male and female pupils. We have also demonstrated the equivalence of the scale across languages (Italian and English). Overall, the findings confirmed the validity and reliability of the new scale in assessing the early signs of math anxiety and in measuring differences between genders and educational contexts. We have also shown that MA was already related to math performance, and teacher’s ratings of children’s math ability at this young age. Additionally, we have found no gender differences in MA in our samples of 6- and 7-year-old children, an important finding, given the strong evidence for gender differences in MA in older age groups.

Math Anxiety Mediates the Link Between Number Sense and Math Achievements in High Math Anxiety Young Adults

In the past few years, many studies have suggested that subjects with high sensory precision in the processing of non-symbolic numerical quantities (approximate number system; ANS) also have higher math abilities. At the same time, there has been interest in another non-cognitive factor affecting mathematical learning: mathematical anxiety (MA). MA is defined as a debilitating emotional reaction to mathematics that interferes with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems. Few studies have been dedicated to uncovering the interplay between ANS and MA and those have provided conflicting evidence. Here we measured ANS precision (numerosity discrimination thresholds) in a cohort of university students with either a high (>75th percentile; n = 49) or low (<25th percentile; n = 39) score on the Abbreviate Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS). We also assessed math proficiency using a standardized test (MPP: Mathematics Prerequisites for Psychometrics), visuo-spatial attention capacity by means of a Multiple Objects Tracking task (MOT) and sensory precision for non-numerical quantities (disk size). Our results confirmed previous studies showing that math abilities and ANS precision correlate in subjects with high math anxiety. Neither precision in size-discrimination nor visuo-spatial attentional capacity were found to correlate with math capacities. Interestingly, within the group with high MA, our data also revealed a relationship between ANS precision and MA, with MA playing a key role in mediating the correlation between ANS and math achievement. Taken together, our results suggest an interplay between extreme levels of MA and the sensory precision in the processing of non-symbolic numerosity.

Math anxiety and math achievement: The effects of emotional and math strategy training

Math anxiety (MA) is a specific feeling of tension generated by the manipulation of numerical stimuli in daily life and academic situations (Richardson & Suinn, 1972). This condition has significant repercussions on the individual's life at personal, social, and economic level. Literature on the topic of MA alleviation, however, is still scarce. This study aims at contributing to this field by addressing MA prevention in school-age children. We have developed two different training methods administered to two groups of fourth graders: (a) MA training focusing on identifying and copying with MA-related feelings (N = 76); and (b) Math strategy training focusing on supplementary exercises to enhance calculation strategies (N = 76). We also carried out a Control training involving a range of activities, such as reading comic strips, describing characters in the story, and combining text and images to obtain an original narrative text (N = 72). We evaluated the differential effects of these training methods on MA, general anxiety, and math achievement before and after the training. Results indicate that MA training contributes to a decrease in MA level, although it does not appear to affect math achievement; Math strategy training, on the other hand, results in far transfer on a reduction of MA level as well as near transfer on the improvement of math achievement. Data are discussed in terms of specific mechanisms underlying each type of training method, and with specific focus on the evaluation of educational and developmental opportunities linked to MA prevention and improvement of math abilities in school-age children.

Understanding Health Risk Comprehension: The Role of Math Anxiety, Subjective Numeracy, and Objective Numeracy

Background. Numeracy skills are important for medical decision making as lower numeracy is associated with misinterpreting statistical health risks. Math anxiety, characterized by negative emotions about numerical tasks, and lower subjective numeracy (i.e., self-assessments of numerical competence) are also associated with poor risk comprehension. Objective. To explore independent and mediated associations of math anxiety, numerical ability, and subjective numeracy with risk comprehension and to ascertain whether their associations are specific to the health domain. Methods. Objective numeracy was measured with a 14-item test. Math anxiety and subjective numeracy were assessed with self-report scales. Risk comprehension was measured with a 12-item test. In experiment 1, risk comprehension items were limited to scenarios in the health domain. In experiment 2, participants were randomly assigned to receive numerically equivalent risk comprehension items in either a health or nonhealth domain. Results. Linear regression analyses revealed that individuals with higher objective numeracy were more likely to respond correctly to the risk comprehension items, as were individuals with higher subjective numeracy. Higher math anxiety was associated with a lower likelihood of correct responding when controlling for objective numeracy but not when controlling for subjective numeracy. Mediation analyses indicated that math anxiety may undermine risk comprehension in 3 ways, including through 1) objective numeracy, 2) subjective numeracy, and 3) objective and subjective numeracy in serial, with subjective numeracy mediating the association between objective numeracy and risk comprehension. Findings did not differ by domain. Conclusions. Math anxiety, objective numeracy, and subjective numeracy are associated with risk comprehension through unique pathways. Education initiatives for improving health risk comprehension may be most effective if jointly aimed at tackling numerical ability as well as negative emotions and self-evaluations related to numeracy.