The Development and Validation of a Revised Version of the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (original) (raw)
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The Modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale: A Valid and Reliable Instrument for Use with Children
Frontiers in psychology, 2017
Mathematics anxiety (MA) can be observed in children from primary school age into the teenage years and adulthood, but many MA rating scales are only suitable for use with adults or older adolescents. We have adapted one such rating scale, the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS), to be used with British children aged 8-13. In this study, we assess the scale's reliability, factor structure, and divergent validity. The modified AMAS (mAMAS) was administered to a very large (n = 1746) cohort of British children and adolescents. This large sample size meant that as well as conducting confirmatory factor analysis on the scale itself, we were also able to split the sample to conduct exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of items from the mAMAS alongside items from child test anxiety and general anxiety rating scales. Factor analysis of the mAMAS confirmed that it has the same underlying factor structure as the original AMAS, with subscales measuring anxiety about Learning and...
The development and validation of the Children's Anxiety in Math Scale
Math anxiety has been historically overlooked in samples of children. This may be due in part to the lack of appropriate tools to measure anxiety in young children. The current exploratory study reports on the development and examination of reliability, validity, and factor structure of a new tool to measure math anxiety in young children. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that the Children's Anxiety in Math Scale is a reliable and valid measure to assess math anxiety in children as young as first grade.
Math anxiety in elementary and secondary school students
Journal of Educational Psychology, 1988
We assessed math anxiety in 6th-through 12th-grade children (N = 564) as part of a comprehensive longitudinal investigation of children's beliefs, attitudes, and values concerning mathematics. Confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for two components of math anxiety, a negative affective reactions component and a cognitive component. The affective component of math anxiety related more strongly and negatively than did the worry component to children's ability perceptions, performance perceptions, and math performance. The worry component related more strongly and positively than did the affective component to the importance that children attach to math and their reported actual effort in math. Girls reported stronger negative affective reactions to math than did boys. Ninth-grade students reported experiencing the most worry about math and sixth graders the least.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 2013
This study explored mathematics anxiety in a longitudinal sample of 113 children followed from second to third grade. We examined how mathematics anxiety related to different types of mathematical performance concurrently and longitudinally and whether the relations between mathematics anxiety and mathematical performance differed as a function of working memory. Concurrent analyses indicated that mathematics anxiety represents a unique source of individual differences in children's calculation skills and mathematical applications, but not in children's geometric reasoning. Furthermore, we found that higher levels of mathematics anxiety in second grade predicted lower gains in children's mathematical applications between second and third grade, but only for children with higher levels of working memory. Overall, our results indicate that mathematics anxiety is an important construct to consider when examining sources of individual differences in young children's mathematical performance. Furthermore, our findings suggest that mathematics anxiety may affect how some children use working memory resources to learn mathematical applications.
Math Anxiety and Math Ability in Early Primary School Years
Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 2009
Mathematical learning disabilities (MLDs) are often associated with math anxiety, yet until now, very little is known about the causal relations between calculation ability and math anxiety during early primary school years. The main aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate the relationship between calculation ability, self-reported evaluation of mathematics, and math anxiety in 140 primary school children between the end of first grade and the middle of third grade. Structural equation modeling revealed a strong influence of calculation ability and math anxiety on the evaluation of mathematics but no effect of math anxiety on calculation ability or vice versa -contrasting with the frequent clinical reports of math anxiety even in very young MLD children. To summarize, our study is a first step toward a better understanding of the link between math anxiety and math performance in early primary school years performance during typical and atypical courses of development.
Further development of the Children’s Mathematics Anxiety Scale UK (CMAS-UK) for ages 4–7 years
Educational Studies in Mathematics
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 Scale UK (CMAS-UK) for ages 4-7 years was further validated with 163 children (4-7 years) across two schools in the UK to test the validity and reliability of the items through subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The predictive validity of the scale was also tested by comparing scale scores against mathematics performance on a mathematics task to determine the relationship between scale and mathematics task scores. Exploratory factor analysis and associated parallel analysis indicated a 19-item scale solution with appropriate item loadings (> 0.45) and high internal consistency (α = 0.88). A single factor model of Online Mathematics Anxiety was related to the experience of an entire mathematics lesson, from first entering the classroom to completing a task. A significant negative correlation was observed between the CMAS-UK and mathematics performance scores, suggesting that children who score high for mathematics anxiety tend to score to perform less well on a mathematics task. Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test a range of module structures; the shortened 19-item CMAS-UK was found to have similar model indices as the 26-item model, resulting in the maintenance of the revised scale. To conclude, the 19-item CMAS-UK provides a reliable assessment of children's mathematics anxiety and has been shown to predict mathematics performance. This research points towards the origins of mathematics anxiety occurring when number is first encountered and supports the utility of the CMAS-UK. Subsequent research in the area should consider and appropriately define an affective component that may underlie mathematics anxiety at older ages. Mathematics anxiety relates to more complex procedures that elude the experiences of younger children and may instead be the result of number-based experiences in the early years of education.
Math anxiety and its relationship with basic arithmetic skills among primary school children
British Journal of Educational Psychology, 2017
Background Children have been found to report and demonstrate math anxiety as early as the first grade. However, previous results concerning the relationship between math anxiety and performance are contradictory, with some studies establishing a correlation between them while others do not. These contradictory results might be related to varying operationalizations of math anxiety. Aims In this study, we aimed to examine the prevalence of math anxiety and its relationship with basic arithmetic skills in primary school children, with explicit focus on two aspects of math anxiety: anxiety about failure in mathematics and anxiety in math-related situations. Sample The participants comprised 1,327 children at grades 2 to 5. Methods Math anxiety was assessed using six items, and basic arithmetic skills were assessed using three assessment tasks. Results Around one-third of the participants reported anxiety about being unable to do math, one-fifth about having to answer teachers' questions and one-tenth about having to do math. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that anxiety about math-related situations and about failure in mathematics are separable aspects of math anxiety. Structural equation modeling suggested that anxiety about math-related situations was more strongly associated with 3 arithmetic fluency than anxiety about failure. Anxiety about math-related situations was most common among second graders and least common among fifth graders. Conclusions Since math anxiety, particularly about math-related situations, was related to arithmetic fluency even as early as the second grade, children's negative feelings and math anxiety should be identified and addressed from the early primary school years.
Learning and Individual Differences, 2019
The aim of this study is to examine the development of two separable aspects of math anxiety, anxiety about math-related situations and anxiety about failure in math, and their cross-lagged relationship with arithmetic achievement. The mean level of anxiety about math-related situations decreased among second, third, and fourth graders, and the level of anxiety about failure in math declined among third, fourth, and fifth graders. The rankorder of individuals was more stable in arithmetic achievement than in either aspect of math anxiety. Arithmetic achievement predicted later anxiety about failure in math, but neither aspect of math anxiety predicted later achievement. The results underline the importance of paying attention to math anxiety because anxiety about math-related situations seems to be as stable in primary school as it is in secondary school students. It is important to provide sufficient educational support and take into account affective factors related to learning from the beginning of schooling.
International Journal of Psychology, 2016
W hile there is an abundance of research pertaining to the development of anxiety disorders, there is still a dearth of knowledge regarding the development of anxiety in the general population. The objective of this study was to longitudinally explore the development of mathematics anxiety among normative middle-school students, and to identify the moderating role of gender, school transition and scholastic achievements on these trajectories. Subjects included 413 sixth grade students (53.3% females, mean age 11.27 ± 0.38 years). Participants were evaluated for their level of anxiety in the context of mathematics, using the Value of Education scale, in four time-points with a 6-month gap between each time-point. Data regarding subjects' grades and school transition were also collected. A growth curve analysis using hierarchical linear modelling revealed that girls, students who transitioned between schools and high achievers (each independently) reported a significant increase in mathematics related anxiety towards the end of sixth grade, which later decreased during seventh grade. The findings of this prospective study on factors affecting the development of mathematics anxiety among normative adolescents may be important in planning focused primary prevention school-based strategies.