ERIC Number: EJ1043202
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-2194
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Mathematics Achievement and Anxiety and Their Relation to Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors
Wu, Sarah S.; Willcutt, Erik G.; Escovar, Emily; Menon, Vinod
Journal of Learning Disabilities, v47 n6 p503-514 Nov-Dec 2014
Although behavioral difficulties are well documented in reading disabilities, little is known about the relationship between math ability and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Here, we use standardized measures to investigate the relation among early math ability, math anxiety, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in a group of 366 second and third graders. Math achievement was significantly correlated with attentional difficulties and social problems but not with internalizing symptoms. The relation between math achievement and externalizing behavioral problems was stronger in girls than in boys. Math achievement was not correlated with trait anxiety but was negatively correlated with math anxiety. Critically, math anxiety differed significantly between children classified as math learning disabled (MLD), low achieving (LA), and typically developing (TD), with math anxiety significantly higher in the MLD and LA groups compared to the TD group. Our findings suggest that, even in nonclinical samples, math difficulties at the earliest stages of formal math learning are associated with attentional difficulties and domain-specific anxiety. These findings underscore the need for further examination of the shared cognitive, neural, and genetic influences underlying problem solving and nonverbal learning difficulties and accompanying internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
Descriptors: Mathematics Achievement, Anxiety, Behavior Problems, Correlation, Learning Problems, Elementary School Students, Grade 2, Grade 3, Attention Deficit Disorders, Interpersonal Competence, Gender Differences, Mathematics Anxiety, Learning Disabilities, Low Achievement, Comorbidity, Classification, Individual Differences, Emotional Problems, Hypothesis Testing, Comparative Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Check Lists, Achievement Tests, Psychopathology
SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 2; Primary Education; Early Childhood Education; Grade 3
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (DHHS); National Science Foundation
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Child Behavior Checklist; Wechsler Individual Achievement Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: HD047520; HD059205; HD057610; DRL-0750340
Author Affiliations: N/A