The effects of maths anxiety, socioeconomic status, and mindset type on children's maths attainment

Abstract

This thesis examines the effects of maths anxiety, socioeconomic status, and mindset type on children's maths attainment during the first three years of formal education in Scottish primary schools. It also considers the influence of the COVID-19 related educational disruptions on children’s maths attainment and maths anxiety, as the pandemic emerged during the testing period. Existing research suggests that maths anxiety and maths attainment are related to each other, with higher maths anxiety typically associated with lower maths attainment, and this relationship is especially problematic for individuals from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Given the importance of early maths attainment on adults’ wealth and well-being, this thesis aims to add to the existing literature by identifying whether maths anxiety is present in the earliest years of schooling and how it develops across the first three years of schooling for two cohorts of children from high and low SES backgrounds. It will also investigate the direction of the maths anxiety – maths attainment relationship, in an attempt to understand which is the driving factor, with the purpose of helping to better inform educational interventions.

Chapter 1 of the thesis is a review of the literature on maths attainment and maths anxiety throughout education. Chapter 2 outlines the pilot testing process and the justification for alterations to the testing procedure in the main study. It also reports the descriptive statistics for the study overall. Chapter 3 reports on maths attainment and Chapter 4 on maths anxiety. Chapter 5 considers how maths attainment and maths anxiety are related and uses cross lagged panel analysis to investigate how SES, carer and teacher maths anxiety, year of schooling, mindset type, and COVID-19 related time away from school predict children’s maths anxiety and maths attainment. The findings suggest that children’s maths attainment and maths anxiety each predict the other over the first three years of school. Teachers’ and carers’ maths anxiety are associated with children’s maths attainment, and maths anxiety with low SES children most affected. However, mindset type was not related to either maths anxiety or maths attainment. Of all the predictors, SES was the strongest predictor of both maths anxiety and maths attainment at each school year. Additionally, the maths attainment of children from low SES backgrounds experienced a decline in maths attainment following the pandemic-related school closures. In Chapter 6, the thesis concludes with a discussion of the findings and suggests that in addition to addressing children’s own maths anxiety, tackling the maths anxiety of teachers may be one strategy that could improve children’s maths attainment and reduce their maths anxiety.

Date of Award	3 Nov 2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Janet McLean (Supervisor) & Sheila Cunningham (Supervisor)