Abstract
Parental attitudes toward mathematics are a potentially easy and effective intervention for lessening students' mathematics anxiety. In this study, we examine the relationship between parental attitudes toward mathematics and their students' mathematics anxiety. The goal is to provide empirical support for the development and proliferation of interventions to increase positive parental attitudes toward mathematics to achieve a decrease in students' mathematics anxiety. Seventy-four abstracts of studies were identified through the electronic databases. Following review, we excluded 67 studies that did not meet all inclusion criteria. Therefore, the 7 studies in this meta-analysis consist of five peer-reviewed published studies and two dissertations. Of the 7 studies used for this meta-analysis, a total of 20 correlation coefficients were extracted. We found that the average correlation for the relationship between students' mathematics anxiety and parents' attitudes toward mathematics was -0.26, a small, though statistically significant, correlation. The inverse relationship indicates that as parents' positive attitudes toward mathematics increase, their children's anxiety decreases. Moreover, elementary and middle school students are much more affected by parents' attitudes toward mathematics than are college students. Therefore, positive parental attitudes toward mathematics appear to have a positive influence on students' mathematics anxiety and this provides a clue for how to involve parents in mathematics anxiety interventions.
Highlights
Skills in and knowledge of mathematics are becoming increasingly more important in the labor market, and research suggests that there is a direct relationship between increased math course completion and increased earnings (Goodman, 2012)
The purpose of this study is to provide empirical support for the development and proliferation of interventions to increase positive parental attitudes toward mathematics to achieve a decrease in student mathematics anxiety
In this meta-analysis, we found that the average correlation for the relationship between students’ mathematics anxiety and parents’ attitude toward mathematics was -0.26
Summary
Skills in and knowledge of mathematics are becoming increasingly more important in the labor market, and research suggests that there is a direct relationship between increased math course completion and increased earnings (Goodman, 2012). Previous research suggests that many factors potentially contribute to mathematics anxiety, including gender, low social economic status, minority status, and the presence of learning disabilities (Beasley & Fisher, 2012; Devine, Fawcett, Szűcs & Dowker, 2012; Elsse-Quest, Hyde & Linn, 2010; Goetz, Bieg, Lüdtke, Pekrun & Hall, 2013; Rubinsten & Tannock, 2010; Vukovic, Roberts & Green, 2013). Each of these factors can help teachers identify students at heightened risk, most factors are static, limiting targeted intervention and support. The purpose of this study is to provide empirical support for the development and proliferation of interventions to increase positive parental attitudes toward mathematics to achieve a decrease in student mathematics anxiety
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