The Developmental Trajectories Of Children’s Mathematics Anxiety In Primary School:Behavioral,Environmental,and Cognitive Correlates

Mathematics anxiety(MA)refers to “feelings of nervousness and tension interfering with manipulating numbers and solving mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations”.It has long been a prevalent problem in the world.For example,data from the Programme International Student Assessment(PISA)indicated that 31% 15-year-old students reported experiencing anxiety when solving math problems.Countries with higher-than-average student MA tend to have lower-than average mathematics performance.To equip students with higher levels of mathematics skills,increased attention is being devoted to understanding the mechanism of MA and mathematics performance.Only a few researchers investigated development trajectories of MA and indicated that the development of MA characterized by a heterogeneous subset of growth trajectories.However,previous research primarily focused on the mathematics anxiety of adult and adolescent,as well as the majority of previous studies have been carried out in the western cultures.There is evidence that MA has already appeared in primary school.And the average level of MA varies in different dimensions.But longitudinal studies on children’s MA are scarce,and knowledge of the developmental aspects of MA is needed for effective targeting of early interventions.Additionally,uncovering the potential personal and environmental determinants as well as their mutual functioning mechanisms are also needed.In the current research,3084 children from grade 1 to grade 6 were recruited to revise and confirm the reliability and validity of Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale(AMAS)when administered to Chinese primary school students.Using the longitudinal dataset(N = 1123),this dissertation examined average-based and group-based development trajectories of MA in primary school.Additionally,we tested personal and environmental factors including mathematics learning engagement,teacher support,and mathematics attitude as predictors of MA trajectories using variable-centered approach and person-centered approach.Two separable aspects of MA,anxiety about mathematics evaluation(MEA)and anxiety about mathematics learning(LMA)were taking into consideration in this dissertation.The main findings of this dissertation are as follows:With regard to the revised AMAS,Study 1 showed that Chinese version of AMAS(AMAS-C)has a strong internal consistency,good convergent and divergent validity.Confirmed factor analysis revealed it has the same underlying factor structure as the original AMAS,with subscales measuring anxiety about evaluation and learning in mathematics.Furthermore,multi-group analysis suggested that AMAS-C is invariant across genders,grades and locations.In regard to the development trajectories of MA(including MEA and LMA),Study 2revealed that :a.Although the average-based development trajectories of the two types of MA is generally increasing,their development patterns are different.Specifically,MEA increased from grade 3 to4 and then it remained stable from grades 4 to 6,whereas LMA remained stable from grades 3 to5 and then increased from grade 5 to 6.Overall,MEA was higher than LMA from grade 3 to grade 6.b.As for MEA,three heterogeneous group-based MA trajectories were identified:consistently decreasing(45.77%),moderate stable(40.12%),consistently increasing(14.11%).As for LMA,three heterogeneous trajectories were identified: low decreasing(72.41%),low increasing(21.41%)and high increasing(6.18%).With regard to the behavioral,environmental,and cognitive correlates of MA average-based and group-based development trajectories,Study 3 to Study 5 showed that:a.Mathematics learning engagement(behavioral factor)significantly predicted the slope(not intercept)of LMA through teacher support(environmental factor)but not MEA.Moreover,mathematics learning engagement significantly predicted the intercept(not slope)of MEA and LMA through mathematics learning attitudes(cognitive factor).b.Serial mediation analyses indicated that mathematics learning engagement could relieve math anxiety in two indirect ways,including through mathematics learning attitudes and through teacher support and mathematics learning attitudes in serial.c.Regarding MEA,mathematics learning engagement significantly predicted MEA trajectory class membership directly and indirectly through mathematics attitude.Compared to children in moderate stable MEA trajectory,children in increasing trajectory were more likely to report high mathematics learning engagement.Relative to children in increasing MEA trajectory,children in decreasing MEA trajectory were more likely report high mathematics learning engagement and positive mathematics attitude.Regarding LMA,mathematics learning engagement significantly influenced LMA trajectory class membership.Relative to children in high increasing trajectory,children in decreasing and low creasing trajectories were more likely report high mathematics learning engagement and positive mathematics attitude.d.Mathematics learning engagement and teacher support indirectly but not interactively predicted developmental trajectories membership of MA.Regarding MEA,the indirect effect between mathematics learning engagement and teacher support on MEA trajectory membership was not significant.Regarding LMA,compared to low high increasing group,decreasing group reported high mathematics learning engagement.Relative to high increasing group,decreasing group were likely to report high mathematics learning engagement and positive teacher support.To conclude,the AMAS-C provided a reliable and valid scale for measuring MA of boys and girls from grade 1 to grade 6 in primary school in cities and counties.This is the first study to examine average-based developmental trajectories and group-based developmental trajectories among children in China.The fact that there are distinct trajectory groups of MA provides important new insights into its development.These findings implies that educators and researchers should be aware of the developmental heterogeneous of MA.These studies also extends our knowledge about the importance of behavioral(mathematics learning engagement),environmental(teacher support)and cognitive(mathematics attitude)in the development of MA.These findings extend previous theories of MA and verify some assumptions of the Triadic Reciprocal Causation of Mathematics Anxiety: Developmental,Heterogeneous,and Multidimensional proposed in this study.The model emphasizes the developmental,multidimensional,and heterogeneous of mathematics anxiety,and deeply discuss the influence of individual internal dynamic interaction and external dynamic interaction on mathematics anxiety.This type of knowledge is important in the design and development of prevention or intervention programs.The findings of the dissertation have import and implications for theory and practice.