Examining How Engagement Mediates the Association Between Procrastination and Math Anxiety

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Engagement in Mathematics

Abstract

We examined associations between procrastination, micro-engagement in a statistics course, and math anxiety. We used confirmatory factor analysis to first validate the measurement and subsequently used SEM to examine direct and indirect relations between these constructs. Participants included 222 high school students (Mage = 16.9, SD = .88) enrolled in an AP statistics course. The results suggest that procrastination is best construed as a unidimensional construct, math anxiety as a bifactor model, and micro-engagement as a set of three correlated factors. Analyses were conducted to examine the direct and indirect paths between these constructs. The findings could shed light on opportunities for intervention on academic maladaptive behaviors, such as procrastination, thus lessening their associated impact on attitudes towards math.

Authors

• Teresa M. Ober, University of Notre Dame

• Daniella Rebouças, University of Notre Dame

• Alex Brodersen, University of Notre Dame

• Matthew Carter, University of Notre Dame

• Ying Cheng, University of Notre Dame