Hello, there! In this post, we present a brief introduction of general topics related to Maths Anxiety such as the definition, causes, prevalence, and possible interventions.
What is Maths Anxiety?
A significant number of school-aged children consider maths the most difficult subject in the curriculum. In particular, some of them experience negative feelings and attitudes when confronted with maths problems. Children with high levels of Maths Anxiety commonly report feeling nervous or tense, having negative thoughts and ruminations about maths (“Maths is scary” or “I am not good at maths”), and avoiding engaging in maths activities.
What are the causes of Maths Anxiety?
There is a consistent association between Maths Anxiety and maths performance: children with higher levels of Maths Anxiety present poorer maths skills. The direction of this association seems to go both ways as evidence suggested that Maths Anxiety might be either the cause or consequence of poorer maths skills. On one hand, Maths Anxiety reduces cognitive resources (i.e., working memory), leading to underperformance in maths. On the other hand, children with poorer mathematics skills are more likely to have failure experiences and develop negative feelings and attitudes towards maths.
In addition to that, experiences inside and outside of the classroom also contribute to the development of Maths Anxiety. Both Parents’ and Teachers’ Maths Anxiety predicts children’s Maths Anxiety. A plausible explanation is that Parents and Teachers, which are role models for children, normalize a fear of math by expressing their negative beliefs about math (i.e., “Math is so confusing”) or their own negative experiences around math (e.g., “I was always scared of math”).
Who is affected by Maths Anxiety?
Maths Anxiety seems to be a highly common problem for school-aged children. Children as early as six years old may exhibit the earliest signs of Maths Anxiety, which tends to increase throughout the years. In terms of prevalence, one in six students is affected by Maths Anxiety. Thus, in a classroom with an average of 30 students, about 17% of the students present Maths Anxiety.
As mentioned above, Maths Anxiety is more prevalent in children with poorer maths skills. Also, Maths Anxiety affects more primary school girls than boys, even when they have similar levels of maths performance.
Why Maths Anxiety is more prevalent in girls?
Although there is no male advantage in math performance and skills, female students tend to have higher Maths Anxiety levels than male students. Evidence supports the hypothesis that the stereotype threat would explain the gender differences in Maths Anxiety levels. The tendency of females students to have negative feelings and attitudes towards maths is consistent with the societal stereotype stating that women are not good at maths.
Which are the consequences of Maths Anxiety?
As previously mentioned, Maths Anxiety is associated with lower maths scores. In turn, difficulties to master maths skills are associated with academic failure, school dropout, and low self-esteem. In adulthood, difficulties to master maths skills are associated with depression, problems with the police, and low socioeconomic status.
In addition to that, there is a correlation between Maths Anxiety and long-term career choices, such that individuals with high Maths Anxiety are less likely to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) careers. As Maths Anxiety is more prevalent in women, this might worsen the existing problem of gender inequality in STEM education.
How should we manage Maths Anxiety?
Interventions designed to alleviate Maths Anxiety can be classified as cognitive-behavioural interventions targeting anxiety related symptoms and interventions targeting primarily maths skills. Although cognitive-behavioural interventions are effective to reduce Maths Anxiety, typically carried out one-on-one by highly trained professionals, requiring more time, effort and costs for their implementation. Among the interventions targeting primarily maths skills, digital educational games seem to be a feasible alternative since training could be carried out individually or in small groups, at home or at school.
References
Balt, M., Börnert-Ringleb, M., & Orbach, L. (2022). Reducing Math Anxiety in School Children: A Systematic Review of Intervention Research. Front. Educ. 7: 798516. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.798516.
Dowker, A., Sarkar, A., & Looi, C. Y. (2016). Mathematics anxiety: What have we learned in 60 years?. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 508. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00508.
Cipora, K., Santos, F. H., Kucian, K., & Dowker, A. (2022). Mathematics anxiety – Where are we and where shall we go? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14770.
Ramirez, G., Shaw, S. T., & Maloney, E. A. (2018). Math anxiety: Past research, promising interventions, and a new interpretation framework. Educational Psychologist, 53(3), 145-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2018.1447384.