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The Role of Parental Math Anxiety and Math Attitude in Their Children’s Math Achievement

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Abstract

The present study investigated the antecedents and consequences of children’s math anxiety and math attitude. A total of 595 students aged 10 to 15 years (5th to 10th grades) and 1 parent of each (mother or father) participated in the study. The study was conducted in India, with the study sample drawn from schools in South-West Punjab. Math anxiety of parents and their children was measured using the Mathematics Anxiety Scale Short Version (MARS-SV), the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Elementary School Students (MARS-E), and the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale for Adolescents (MARS-A). Math attitude was assessed with the Attitude Towards Mathematics Inventory (ATMI). A math achievement test was constructed for each grade level based on their curriculum. Path analyses were conducted to test the suggested conceptual model, and the results indicate that parental math anxiety and math attitude act as precursors to their children’s math anxiety and math attitude and further influence the math achievement of their children.

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  1. Thapar University, Patiala, Punjab, India

    Akanksha Soni & Santha Kumari

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Soni, A., Kumari, S. The Role of Parental Math Anxiety and Math Attitude in Their Children’s Math Achievement. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 15, 331–347 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-015-9687-5

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