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2-023 - Identifying Important Concurrent and Longitudinal Correlates of Math Anxiety in Elementary School Children

Fri, March 22, 8:00 to 9:30am, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 3, Room 331

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Recent research has found that some children report experiencing math anxiety as early as first grade, and high math anxiety is already associated with poorer math achievement by this early age (e.g., Ramirez et al., 2013). Because math anxiety develops early and is fairly stable over time (e.g., Cargnelutti et al., 2016), it is important to gain a better understanding of the nature of its development and correlates at early ages. Thus, in this session we report recent research findings that deepen our understanding of the development and correlates of math anxiety in elementary-school children.

The first paper finds that math anxiety can be measured in kindergarten students and that it is related to math performance similarly to how these variables relate in grade 1-3 students. The second paper’s results show that high math anxiety in elementary-school students predicts lower math performance one year later but only for children with high verbal working memory capacities. The third paper finds evidence that a math app intervention can help minimize the relation between parents’ math anxiety and that of their child.

Together, these studies suggest that some children already experience math anxiety early in development. In addition, math anxiety develops among a complex web of factors including parents’ attitudes and beliefs, cognitive factors, and achievement. These projects push the field forward by identifying key variables that may help in efforts to prevent the development of math anxiety in young children.

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