How to measure math anxiety in young children? Psychometric properties of the modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale for Elementary Children (mAMAS-E)
2023; De Gruyter Open; Linguagem: Inglês
10.24425/ppb.2019.131003
ISSN1641-7844
Autores Tópico(s)Teacher Professional Development and Motivation
ResumoThe results of many studies suggest that gender is an important factor in differentiating the level of math anxiety among children, adolescents, and adults.It is generally found that females report a higher level of math anxiety than males (Dowker, 2019), but some studies indicate no gender differences (Harari, Vukovic, & Bailey, 2013).Math anxiety is considered a specific type of anxiety that cannot be explained by referring only to anxiety (Hembree, 1990).Its specificity has been confirmed by results indicating that math anxiety correlates weakly or moderately with general anxiety and test anxiety (Ganley & McGraw, 2016;Hembree, 1990;Wu, Barth, Amin, Melcarne, & Menon, 2012) and strongly with other measures of math anxiety (Hembree, 1990; Hopko, Mahadevan, Bare, & Hunt, 2003).Although much is known about the characteristics of math anxiety in school children, adolescents, and adults, research into this issue among young children has only started relatively recently.However, according to what is described below, many characteristics of this anxiety are probably similar to those in older learners (Ganley & McGraw, 2016). GenderMany research results indicate a higher level of math anxiety in secondary school girls than in boys (Devine et al., 2012; OECD, 2015), but there are also results which Monika Szczygieł * How to measure math anxiety in young children? Psychometric properties of the modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale for Elementary Children (mAMAS-E)Abstract: Starting in the early years of education, math anxiety is negatively related to mathematic outcomes, therefore there is a need for its adequate measurement in young children.This study presents the psychometric properties of the modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale for Elementary Children (mAMAS-E) for first-to third-grade children based on mAMAS.The validity of mAMAS-E was determined by a series of tests.The analysis confirmed its two-factor structure (Testing and Learning), positive relationships between mAMAS-E and math, general, and test anxiety, and a negative relationship with mathematical achievement.Children with a high level of math self-esteem and math self-confidence (but not Polish language self-esteem and self-confidence) have lower math anxiety in comparison to those with a moderate level.The results also indicate that girls have a higher level of math anxiety than boys.The validity and internal consistency of mAMAS-E are satisfactory; therefore, mAMAS-E may be a recommendable questionnaire for measuring math anxiety in young children.
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