Abstract
The purpose of the this article is to provide an overview of the current state of research concerning the development, determining factors and effects of mathematics anxiety, particularly with regard to young elementary school age level populations. Assessment instruments, potential risk-factors, consequences of mathematics anxiety, as well as approaches to intervention are summarized. Owing to the small number of studies focusing on mathematics anxiety in young children, findings from adult studies are briefly recapitulated. The available data emphasizes the need for systematic research that focuses on the one hand on the onset of mathematics anxiety at a young age, and on the other follows the development of longer periods of time. Furthermore, multi-method research designs may be the means to gain deeper insight into the dynamics of causes and effects when the interaction of mathematics anxiety and mathematical abilities are under scrutiny. Only by implementing longitudinal studies that involve different types of data and the formulation of complex models of the dynamics of mathematics anxiety over time, can its determining factors and its effects be generated.
Highlights
According to statistical estimations, roughly 20% of the population suffer from more or less severe psychological or physiological symptoms related to feelings of anxiety when confronted with tasks that require the manipulation of numerical information
A more concise description of the causal factors is provided by Devine and colleagues (2012) who classified variables systematically related to the development of mathematics anxiety into three groups, namely, environmental variables, intellectual variables and personality variables
Thomas and Dowker (2000) suggest that the often demonstrated relationship between mathematics anxiety and achievement may be age dependent, i.e. getting more pronounced with increasing age and longer schooling. This is in line with the global avoidance theory proposed by Ashcraft and Faust (1994) that describes mathematics anxiety to play a major role in the origin of poor mathematical performance
Summary
Roughly 20% of the population suffer from more or less severe psychological or physiological symptoms related to feelings of anxiety when confronted with tasks that require the manipulation of numerical information (i.e. one out of five persons belongs to the group of high-math-anxious individuals; Ashcraft & Kirk, 2001). This, along with the typically ensuing withdrawal from mathematics-associated situations, implicates far-ranging difficulties for educational contexts as well as everyday life for the affected individuals. Described as mathemaphobia by a teacher who referred to her students’ striking emotional reactions in the face of mathematical tasks and challenges (Gough, 1954), this phenomenon has gained increasing attention from the educational practice, and from the scientific community. The better part of the available empirical studies focus on individuals at the end of their formal education. This is unfortunate, as most of the detrimental impact of mathematics anxiety has taken its toll by that time, which interferes with the aim to gain a deeper understanding of biasing factors.
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