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CMAS-UK confirmatory factor analysis structure (2-factor 26-item model). *Measurement error. **Observed variables. ***Percent of variance explained. ****Standardised regression weights. *****Common factors

CMAS-UK confirmatory factor analysis structure (2-factor 26-item model). *Measurement error. **Observed variables. ***Percent of variance explained. ****Standardised regression weights. *****Common factors

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There are currently many mathematics anxiety rating scales designed typically for adult and older children populations, yet there remains a lack of assessment tools for younger children (< 7 years of age) despite a recent focus on this age range. Following previous testing and validation, the 26-item iteration of the Children’s Mathematics Anxiety...

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This paper draws on data from a quantitative study of upper secondary students’ general mathematical self-efficacy, anxiety towards mathematics, and their relationship to achievement in mathematics. The main objective of this article is to discuss the type of information that may be lost if potential problems of validity and extreme multicollineari...

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... Reading questionnaire items aloud and providing pictorial rating scales have been used as suitable strategies to inquire about math anxiety in the few studies involving kindergarten children. Results of these studies highlight small to moderate negative associations between the cognitive and affective dimensions of math anxiety and young children's math achievement scores (Lu, Li, Patrick, & Mantzicopoulos, 2021) and a large negative correlation between overall accuracy in mathematics tasks and prospective and online math anxiety in reception year age children (Petronzi, Staples, Sheffield, Hunt, & Fitton-Wilde, 2019). In Petronzi et al.,'s study, prospective math anxiety refers to the 4-to 7-year-olds' anticipation of math tasks before engagement, and online math anxiety refers to actual math performance indexed through questionnaire items. ...
... The starting point in the Swedish context is that the level of math anxiety experienced by preschool teachers affects the extent to which young children are exposed to mathematical concepts and learning experiences. In addition, it is concerning that math anxiety is increasingly reported in kindergarten-age children in nearby, and other broadly conceptualized as Western countries (Petronzi, 2017;Petronzi et al., 2019;Lu et al., 2021). ...
... The Debilitating Anxiety Model (Carey et al., 2016) has already pointed out global avoidance as a plausible mechanism through which math anxiety influences math performance later in life. Therefore, the rising incidence of math anxiety reported in kindergarten-age children worldwide (Aarnos & Perkkilä, 2012;Lu et al., 2021;Petronzi et al., 2019;Petronzi, 2017;Sun, 2009) combined with the local report of math anxiety among preschool teachers shaping the extent to which young children are exposed to mathematical concepts and learning opportunities in Sweden emphasizes the role of preschools in shaping early math-related experiences for young learners. The absence of a negative effect of math anxiety in our children group could also be an indicator of broader overall avoidance of mathematical tasks in Swedish preschools. ...
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We investigated the relations between self-reported math anxiety, task difficulty, and pupil dilation in adults and very young children during math tasks of varying difficulty levels. While task difficulty significantly influenced pupillary responses in both groups, the association between self-reported math anxiety and pupil dilation differed across age cohorts. The children exhibited resilience to the effects of math anxiety, hinting at additional influential factors such as formal math education experiences shaping their relations to mathematics and their impact on cognitive processes over time. Contrary to expectations, no significant association between self-reported math anxiety and pupil dilation during task anticipation was found in either group. In adults, math anxiety influenced pupil dilation exclusively during the initial phase of task processing indicating heightened cognitive load, but this influence diminished during sustained task processing. Theoretical implications emphasize the need for exploring individual differences, cognitive strategies, and the developmental trajectory of math anxiety in very young children.
... As various dimensions of math anxiety are usually positively and highly correlated to each other, math anxiety may also be treated as unidimensional (Single Item Math Anxiety Scale; SIMA; . Math anxiety begins in childhood and develops during the first years of primary school (Petronzi et al. 2019;Szczygieł & Pieronkiewicz 2022). It increases as the child gets older, peaking at 14 or 16 years old, followed by plateaus, but continuing through the school years and beyond (Yáñez-Marquina, & Villardón-Gallego 2017). ...
... Although our results confirm that differences between studies may be explained by methodological details (type of measure and indicators of numerical magnitude processing), further studies are needed to show what this looks like in children and adolescents. Indeed, it is well known that both non-symbolic and symbolic numerical representations and math anxiety develop over time (Friso-van den Bos et al. 2015;Petronzi et al. 2019). Therefore, the relationships between these constructs and between them and math performance may vary by age group. ...
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According to the hypothesis of Maloney et al. (Cognition 114(2):293–297, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.09.013), math anxiety is related to deficits in numerical magnitude processing, which in turn compromises the development of advanced math skills. Because previous studies on this topic are contradictory, which may be due to methodological differences in the measurement of numerical magnitude processing, we tested Maloney et al.’s hypothesis using different tasks and their indicators: numerical magnitude processing (symbolic and non-symbolic comparison tasks: accuracy, reaction time, numerical ratio, distance and size effects, and Weber fraction; number line estimation task: estimation error), math anxiety (combined scores of learning, testing, math problem solving, and general math anxiety), and math performance. The results of our study conducted on 119 young adults mostly support the hypothesis proposed by Maloney et al. that deficiency in symbolic magnitude processing is related to math anxiety, but the relationship between non-symbolic processes and math anxiety was opposite to the assumptions. Moreover, the results indicate that estimation processes (but not comparison processes) and math anxiety are related to math performance in adults. Finally, high math anxiety moderated the relationship between reaction time in the symbolic comparison task, reaction time in the non-symbolic comparison task, numerical ratio effect in the symbolic comparison task, and math performance. Because the results of the joint effect of numerical magnitude processing and math anxiety on math performance were inconsistent, this part of the hypothesis is called into question.
... We tested MA but not math achievement at the beginning of the first grade. Further research should include parallel measurements of MA and math achievement starting from the beginning of early school education or even preschool (Petronzi et al., 2019). ...
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Background: Math anxiety (MA) and math achievement (MATH) are related, but the direction of their relationship and their predictors are still unclear. Aims: We tested whether MATH predicts MA (Deficit Theory), MA predicts MATH (Debilitating Anxiety Theory), or whether MA and MATH have reciprocal relationships (Reciprocal Theory). Further, we established whether MA at T0, T1, and T2 and MATH at T1 and T2 were predicted by gender, general anxiety, fluid intelligence, verbal and visuospatial working memory, and symbolic and non-symbolic numerical representations tested at T0. Sample: We tested 337 Polish primary school children. Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data at three time points: T0-the beginning of the first grade, T1-the end of the first grade, T2-the end of the second grade. Results: MATH at T1 predicted MA at T2 and MA at T1 predicted MATH at T2 (supporting the Reciprocal Theory). Additionally, MATH at T1 was predicted by fluid intelligence, visuospatial working memory, and symbolic numerical representation; MATH at T2 by fluid intelligence, verbal working memory, and MATH at T1. MA at T0 was predicted by general anxiety and symbolic numerical representation, MA at T1 by MA at T0 and gender, and MA at T2 by MA at T1. Conclusions: The results support the Reciprocal Theory of the MA and MATH relationship. MA is predicted by general anxiety, knowledge of mathematical symbols and gender. MATH is predicted by fluid intelligence, working memory and knowledge of mathematical symbols.
... To our knowledge, only two studies measured MA directly in kindergarten children. Petronzi et al. (2019) designed the Children's Mathematics Anxiety Scale UK for children between ages 4-7 years. This scale was validated in 163 children, identifying a single factor model of Online Mathematics Anxiety related to the experience of an entire mathematics lesson, and it was negatively related to math achievement. ...
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Introduction Math anxiety (MA) is an academic anxiety about learning, doing, and evaluating mathematics, usually studied in school populations and adults. However, MA likely has its origins before children go to school. For example, studies have shown that general anxiety (GA) for everyday events is less separable from MA in primary than in early secondary school. This suggests that GA may be a precursor of MA. For this reason, here, we have examined whether GA is already associated with math achievement at the end of kindergarten. Methods We tested 488 Hungarian kindergarten children aged 5.7 to 6.9 years (55% girls) and analyzed the effect of GA, sex, and family SES on math achievement in kindergarten children. Results Strikingly, confirming results from primary school children, we found that GA negatively correlated with math achievement already in this preschool population. Higher GA levels had a stronger negative effect on girls’ than boys’ math achievement. However, there were no significant sex differences in math achievement in kindergarten. Additionally, family socioeconomic status was the strongest predictor of math achievement. Discussion We speculate that high GA in preschool is a plausible early precursor of later high MA. Early interventions could aim to control GA levels before children start formal schooling.
... MARS-E has demonstrated high internal consistency and reliability (α = 0.88). In addition, the children's mathematics anxiety scale-UK (CMAS-UK) was developed specifically for children aged 4-7 in the UK [18]. Although the initial version of the scale included 21 items, the final version was refined and consisted of 19 items with high internal consistency (α = 0.88) and item loadings (> 0.45). ...
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Mathematics anxiety (MA) is considered a potential barrier to success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. A good number of students around the globe are terrified of mathematics. They do whatever they can to avoid math or math-related subjects. Therefore, the early identification of MA and its underlying factors is crucial in initiating timely interventions that can enhance positive attitudes in math, boost math performance, minimize math avoidance, and motivate students to pursue math-related careers. In this paper, we have presented a unique, multifaceted, and complete web-based MA screening tool called identifying mathematics anxiety through an automated process (IMATAP) to assess MA, its severity, and its deficiency. This assessment provides a detailed explanation of developing MA and helps teachers, parents, educators, and researchers design need-based intervention techniques (personalized or cluster-based) to reduce MA, which will ultimately help math-anxious students overcome math fear. Over the past two years (2021–2022), IMATAP has been successfully implemented in nine different primary and secondary level institutions in Bangladesh. Findings revealed that the effectiveness of the IMATAP system has been appreciated and highly accepted by both students and teachers.
... To increase the willingness to participate and decrease the likelihood of a positive selection of conscientious students, students were allowed time to complete the questionnaire on-site. The scale of our study is comparable to the study of Petronzi et al. (2019) who surveyed 163 mathematics students from two schools and, based on this sample, provided vital information concerning mathematics anxiety. The knowledge we aim to gain from our study can help adapt the design of modern learning environments and learning resources to mathematics students' needs and characteristics. ...
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Our research aimed to identify factors of motivation and affect to best characterise upper secondary mathematics students and correlations between these factors. This work is based on personas, a tool from user experience research for representing the needs and characteristics of users of a system developed in prior research. In the present study, we conducted an online questionnaire study with questionnaire scales aligned to the previously developed personas. To identify latent factors in the characterisation of upper secondary mathematics students, factor analysis was conducted and correlations were computed. The findings revealed that the factors concerning & Anxieties, Performance-related confidence, Engagement, Performance orientation, and Persistence are essential to describe upper-secondary mathematics students and that Enjoyment, Concerns & Anxieties, Performance-related confidence, and Engagement are highly correlated. We propose that these interdependencies be observed in teacher training as well as in professional development and discuss the implications for the practices of teachers and teacher educators.
... Strategies designed to encourage emotion regulation have been successful in reducing math anxiety in older children or adults (e.g., expressive writing (Park et al., 2014) and focused breathing (Brunyé et al., 2013)). However, little work has been conducted with younger children in a bid to tackle MA, despite research showing that MA can be prominent in children as young as 4 years old (Petronzi et al., 2017(Petronzi et al., , 2019. As such, this study proposed a child-friendly storybook approach to promoting children's reflection on math experiences and normalizing math talk for the purpose of identifying emotional responses identified with math anxiety. ...
... This scale has been shown to reliably measure the MA of children (α = .87) with a significant negative correlation with math performance (Petronzi et al., 2019). ...
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Research and education stakeholders in the United Kingdom (UK) acknowledge math anxiety as a detriment to learning math and is associated with performance deficits, avoidance, and limiting career opportunities. Support approaches and strategies have typically focused on instruction and emotion regulation, but not necessarily in younger children using a more sustainable resource, such as a targeted storybook approach. Therefore, in this qualitative study, children age 6–7 years (N = 15) across two UK primary schools took part in 1:1 discussion surrounding engagement with a math anxiety storybook approach. Following reflexive thematic analysis, three global themes were identified: [A] Math Application: (1) counting and (2) mathematical language; [B] Strategies: (1) social learning and (2) resilience and self-regulation; and [C] Emotive Responses: (1) perceptions of self and math and (2) success and happiness. Overall, our findings suggest that children successfully engaged with a storybook approach – with integrated math problems – that normalized math talk in a non-judgment-based environment and led to more positive perspectives of math and more resilient approaches and solutions. We discuss these findings in relation to developing emotion regulation using a sustainable and flexible resource.
... like) or negative (e.g. dislike) experiences in reaction to learning mathematics (Di Martino & Zan, 2010;Petronzi et al., 2019). Additionally, the enjoyment construct is known as a mix of like/dislike emotions that can act, and as a feedback system for cognitive and motivational processes (Hannula, 2012). ...
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Affect has been identified as one of the important inputs in illuminating the mechanism of cognitive activities in mathematical problem solving (MPS). This study aimed to assess upper primary students' MPS-related affect with a focus on its differences across gender and grade-level among upper primary students. To do so, a simple Likert type scale was developed to measure students' MPS-related affect. Moreover, the study examined how this affective structure varies across grade levels and gender among upper primary students. The scale includes 5 subscales; Vision, Value, Enjoyment, Effort, and Self-efficacy regarding MPS. The responses of 725 upper primary students from different schools were considered to carry out the psychometric analysis and to demonstrate the scale's potential usefulness for measuring the MPS-related affective construct. The results revealed that girls and boys did not show any significant difference in the subscales, except for Vision of MPS, where girls report a higher dynamic (a non-static) vision than boys. When comparing grades, there were significant differences among these across variables. However, almost all variables (except Vision) show a decreasing trend, while Enjoyment and Effort have a wide range of changes along with grades. Ultimately, these differences need to be considered by mathematics teachers and curricula.
... The two issues have motivated research and concern for decades (Hembree, 1990;Ma, 1999). However, only in recent years, particular attention has been paid to their association at an early stage (Cargnelutti et al., 2017;Petronzi et al., 2019b;Sorvo et al., 2019). For instance, the most recent meta-analyses reported negative correlations between mathematics performance and MA (r = -0.26 in Barroso et al., 2021;r = -0.27 in Namkung et al., 2019), suggesting that primary school children who report high levels of MA tend to present low mathematics performance. ...
Article
A negative correlation between mathematics performance and mathematics anxiety (MA) has been identified in students of varying ages. However, little is known as to whether this correlation diminishes when environmental factors are incorporated as moderator variables. Specifically, the effect of home numeracy activities (HNA) and parental MA on students’ performance-MA relationship has received little attention. Furthermore, there have been no studies that consider HNA frequency as reported by the children themselves. A sample of 311 Chilean second graders and their parents participated in the present study. We examined whether HNA frequency moderates the performance-MA relationship and whether this moderation is in turn moderated by parent MA. Results showed that the frequency of HNA strengthened or diminished the negative correlation between performance and MA as a function of parent MA. In the case of parents with low MA, regardless of HNA frequency, child mathematics performance was negatively associated with child MA. However, in the case of math-anxious parents that interacted frequently with their children, there was no association between child MA and math achievement. More broadly, the present study suggests that mathematics-related family dynamics and parents’ emotions are key to understanding the relationship between performance and MA in early development.
... Many children and adults have highly negative attitudes to mathematics, including significant levels of anxiety about the subject [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Most studies suggest that mathematics anxiety increases with age [10][11][12][13][14] though there is increasing evidence that it can be found even in the early primary school years [15][16][17][18][19][20]. ...
... Usually, direct measures of mathematics anxiety are obtained from somewhat older children than those in the present study; it is challenging to study math anxiety in very young children. Nevertheless, some recent studies have resulted in the development of mathematics anxiety measures for school beginners [17], and it would be desirable for future studies to include such measures. ...
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It has been suggested that parental mathematics anxiety may influence their children’s mathematics anxiety, attitudes, and performance. It remains an open question whether these parent-child associations differ by parental sex or parental involvement. We tested 249 Dutch-speaking Belgian participants, forming 83 (biological) mother–father–child trios. The 83 children (age: M = 5.74; SD = 0.30) attended Kindergarten. We tested their nonsymbolic comparison, symbolic numerical magnitude processing, numeral recognition, arithmetic, and matrix reasoning. We assessed both parents’ arithmetic skills, math anxiety, educational level, and division of care. More math-anxious parents tended to be less highly educated (r~0.42) and poorer at math (r~0.30). Compared to fathers, mothers had lower arithmetic, higher math anxiety, and higher educational level. Assortative mating (i.e., a significant spousal correlation) was found for educational level and arithmetic. Mothers’ (but not fathers’) educational level predicted children’s arithmetic scores (r = 0.31). Other parent-offspring correlations were non-significant. Most of the children’s test scores are intercorrelated. The parental characteristic that best predicted five- and six-year-olds’ arithmetic performance was maternal educational level rather than mathematical anxiety or performance. We discuss these findings in relation to the used measures, parental gender and involvement, children’s age, statistical power, and genetic and environmental transmission. The field is just starting to understand whether and how mathematics anxiety and the skills of parents influence those of their offspring.