Table 2 Included studies reporting author and year of publication, country of origin, undergraduate discipline, study design and participant numbers, primary outcomes and scoping review theme(s)
From: What impact does maths anxiety have on university students?
References | Country | Discipline | Design and participants | Outcomes | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zeidner [22] | Israel | Social science and education students who had undertaken a statistics unit | Cross sectional n = 431 | Lack of maths foundation and low maths self-esteem reinforce maths anxiety Females have higher statistics test anxiety than males (59.33 > 54.28, t (429) = − 3.29, p < 0.001) Statistics anxiety is correlated positively with maths anxiety experienced in high school(r (265) = 0.410, p < 0.05 | Self-awareness |
Hopko et al. [19] | USA | Psychology | Randomised controlled trial n = 64 | High maths anxious individuals generally exhibited higher error rates on mathematical tasks especially those requiring working memory resources MARS-R mean score = 59.0. Females reported more maths anxiety than males (t (812) = 5.53, p < 0.001) | Gender |
Maloney et al. [28] | Canada | Not reported | Cross sectional n = 48 | High Maths Anxious (HMA) individuals have less precise representations of numerical magnitude than their Low Maths Anxious (LMA) peers t test on the slopes of the distance effects for HMA and LMA by revealing a steeper numerical distance effect for HMA than for LMA group (46) = 2.0, p = 0.05 | Gender |
McMullan et al. (26) | UK | Nursing | Cross sectional n = 229 | Strong significant relationship between maths anxiety, self-efficacy and ability in nursing students 93% of the Students who failed the numeracy test and 83% of those who failed the drug calculation test demonstrated signs of maths anxiety (score > 25%) Students who failed numeracy test were significantly more anxious (t (216) = 7.04, p < 0.001 and less confident (t (214) = − 5.77, p < .001) in performing numerical calculations and less confident in performing drug calculation (t (213) = − 3.42, p = 0.001) | Numerical ability |
Hunt et al. (20) | UK | Psychology | Cross sectional n = 78 | There is a significant positive correlation between maths anxiety and fixations, dwell time, and saccades. No significant difference between males and females on self-reported maths anxiety r (67) = 0.13, p = 0.26. Overall sample mean for maths anxiety 48.42, SD = 13.97 | Self-awareness |
Jordan et al. [30] | UK | Psychology, nursing and other | Prospective cohort Dyslexia group n = 28 Control group n = 71 | Higher maths anxiety was associated with having a dyslexia diagnosis The predictors of maths anxiety: self-esteem(r = − 327, p = 0.001),worrying (r = .394; p < .001), denial(r = .238; p = 0.018), seeking instrumental support(r = .206; p = 0.040) and positive reinterpretation(r = -.216; p = 0.032) | Numerical ability |
Liew et al. [18] | USA | Not reported | Cross sectional n = 184 | Interventions targeting emotion regulation and stress management skills may help individuals to reduce their maths and test anxieties Coefficient of gender on avoidance temperament was significant, higher in females (M = 0.17, SD = 0.80) than in males (M = − 0.41, SD = 0.84) | Gender |
Hendy et al. (27) | USA | Mathematics | Cross sectional n = 368 | Students with low Maths confidence or high maths anxiety might benefit from the maths self-evaluation and self-regulation intervention that is guided by Ramdass and Zimmerman 2008 suggestions The scales related to maths belief that are used in this study: Maths Value Scale (MVS), Maths Confidence Scale (MCS) and Maths Barriers Scale (MBS) The most commonly reported maths belief was Maths Confidence (mean rating = 3.79, SD = 0.90 | Learning difficulty |
Alves [23] | Portugal | Engineering | Cross sectional n = 140 | Gender shows no differences in the perceived importance of maths anxiety. The Mann–Whitney test showed no significant differences in anxiety toward maths between male and female students (U = 2270.5, p = 0.541) No significant differences in self-efficacy between male and female students (U = 2110.5, p = 0.198) | Gender |
Paechter et al. [21] | Austria | Psychology | Prospective cohort n = 225 | High maths anxious individuals have less precise representations of numerical magnitude than their low maths anxious peers Female students report higher levels of maths anxiety β = 0.660 Participants with a higher propensity to experience anxiety in general report higher levels of maths anxiety (β = 0.385) | Gender |