Transition of latent classes of children’s mathematics anxiety in primary school and the distinctive effects of parental educational involvement: A three-wave longitudinal study

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00355

Abstract

Abstract:

In this study, latent transition analysis was used to investigate the transitions between different subtypes of primary school children's mathematics anxiety and the role of parental educational involvement in the transitions between different subtypes of primary school children's mathematics anxiety. 1720 third and fourth graders in county primary schools were selected as participants, and their mathematics anxiety and perceived parental educational involvement were measured three times, with an interval of one year each time. The results show that: (1) There were three different subgroups of mathematics anxiety in primary school children, including the low mathematics anxiety group, the high mathematics evaluation anxiety group and the high mathematics acquisition anxiety group; (2) As time went by the high mathematics evaluation anxiety group tended to change to the low mathematics anxiety group, the high mathematics acquisition anxiety group tended to change to the high mathematics evaluation anxiety group, and the low mathematics anxiety group were relatively stable; (3) The predictive effect of paternal/maternal educational involvement on the transitions of children's mathematics anxiety subgroups is distinctive for different mathematics anxiety subgroups. The above findings provide an important reference for further understanding the formation mechanism of mathematics anxiety and the formulation of intervention measures.

Key words: primary school children, mathematics anxiety, parental educational involvement, latent transition analysis, longitudinal study

SI Jiwei, GUO Kaiyue, ZHAO Xiaomeng, ZHANG Mingliang, LI Hongxia, HUANG Bijuan, XU Yanli. (2022). Transition of latent classes of children’s mathematics anxiety in primary school and the distinctive effects of parental educational involvement: A three-wave longitudinal study. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 54(4), 355-370.

Figures/Tables 10

References 50

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Model	S-Bχ²(df )	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	∆χ²(∆df )	p	∆CFI
Paternal educational involvement
Model 1	8652.034 (3462)	0.931	0.925	0.030	-	-	-
Model 2	8805.099 (3510)	0.929	0.925	0.030	153.065 (48)	< 0.01	0.002
Model 3	9094.466 (3558)	0.926	0.922	0.030	289.367 (48)	< 0.01	0.003
Maternal educational involvement
Model 1	7733.688 (3462)	0.926	0.920	0.027	-	-	-
Model 2	7923.238 (3510)	0.924	0.919	0.027	189.550 (48)	< 0.01	0.002
Model 3	8425.155 (3558)	0.916	0.912	0.028	501.917 (48)	< 0.01	0.008
Mathematics anxiety
Model 1	3951.169 (1947)	0.956	0.951	0.024	-	-	-
Model 2	4032.857 (1983)	0.955	0.951	0.025	81.688 (36)	< 0.01	0.001
Model 3	4192.570 (2019)	0.952	0.949	0.025	159.713 (36)	< 0.01	0.003

Model	S-Bχ²(df )	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	∆χ²(∆df )	p	∆CFI
Paternal educational involvement
Model 1	8652.034 (3462)	0.931	0.925	0.030	-	-	-
Model 2	8805.099 (3510)	0.929	0.925	0.030	153.065 (48)	< 0.01	0.002
Model 3	9094.466 (3558)	0.926	0.922	0.030	289.367 (48)	< 0.01	0.003
Maternal educational involvement
Model 1	7733.688 (3462)	0.926	0.920	0.027	-	-	-
Model 2	7923.238 (3510)	0.924	0.919	0.027	189.550 (48)	< 0.01	0.002
Model 3	8425.155 (3558)	0.916	0.912	0.028	501.917 (48)	< 0.01	0.008
Mathematics anxiety
Model 1	3951.169 (1947)	0.956	0.951	0.024	-	-	-
Model 2	4032.857 (1983)	0.955	0.951	0.025	81.688 (36)	< 0.01	0.001
Model 3	4192.570 (2019)	0.952	0.949	0.025	159.713 (36)	< 0.01	0.003

Variable	T1 PEI	T2 PEI	T3 PEI	T1 MEI	T2 MEI	T3 MEI	T1 CMA	T2 CMA	T3 CMA
Gender
Boys	2.55 (0.71)	2.68 (0.79)	2.70 (0.73)	2.85 (0.61)	3.10 (0.63)	3.16 (0.63)	1.93 (0.62)	1.86 (0.67)	1.77 (0.68)
Girls	2.60 (0.69)	2.73 (0.74)	2.61 (0.73)	2.90 (0.60)	3.10 (0.62)	3.08 (0.64)	1.82 (0.60)	1.80 (0.62)	1.79 (0.61)
Grade
Grade 3	2.52 (0.70)	2.59 (0.74)	2.67 (0.71)	2.78 (0.60)	3.01 (0.61)	3.14 (0.62)	1.99 (0.64)	1.92 (0.64)	1.83 (0.66)
Grade 4	2.62 (0.70)	2.82 (0.79)	2.66 (0.75)	2.96 (0.61)	3.19 (0.62)	3.11 (0.65)	1.78 (0.57)	1.75 (0.65)	1.73 (0.63)
Gender (r)	0.04	0.03	-0.06^*	0.04	-0.01	-0.06^*	-0.09^**	-0.05^*	0.01
Grade (r)	0.07^**	0.15^**	-0.01	0.14^**	0.14^**	-0.02	-0.17^**	-0.14^**	-0.08^**
Test anxiety (r)	-0.13^**	-0.14^**	-0.14^**	-0.10^**	-0.11^**	-0.09^**	0.39^**	0.29^**	0.24^**
T1 MA (r)	0.01	0.03	0.02	0.06^*	0.03	0.02	-0.25^**	-0.23^**	-0.26^**
T2 MA (r)	0.06^*	0.08^**	0.09^**	0.10^**	0.08^**	0.09^**	-0.26^**	-0.24^**	-0.31^**
T3 MA (r)	0.09^**	0.04	0.05^*	0.10^**	0.07^**	0.06^**	-0.26^**	-0.27^**	-0.33^**

Variable	T1 PEI	T2 PEI	T3 PEI	T1 MEI	T2 MEI	T3 MEI	T1 CMA	T2 CMA	T3 CMA
Gender
Boys	2.55 (0.71)	2.68 (0.79)	2.70 (0.73)	2.85 (0.61)	3.10 (0.63)	3.16 (0.63)	1.93 (0.62)	1.86 (0.67)	1.77 (0.68)
Girls	2.60 (0.69)	2.73 (0.74)	2.61 (0.73)	2.90 (0.60)	3.10 (0.62)	3.08 (0.64)	1.82 (0.60)	1.80 (0.62)	1.79 (0.61)
Grade
Grade 3	2.52 (0.70)	2.59 (0.74)	2.67 (0.71)	2.78 (0.60)	3.01 (0.61)	3.14 (0.62)	1.99 (0.64)	1.92 (0.64)	1.83 (0.66)
Grade 4	2.62 (0.70)	2.82 (0.79)	2.66 (0.75)	2.96 (0.61)	3.19 (0.62)	3.11 (0.65)	1.78 (0.57)	1.75 (0.65)	1.73 (0.63)
Gender (r)	0.04	0.03	-0.06^*	0.04	-0.01	-0.06^*	-0.09^**	-0.05^*	0.01
Grade (r)	0.07^**	0.15^**	-0.01	0.14^**	0.14^**	-0.02	-0.17^**	-0.14^**	-0.08^**
Test anxiety (r)	-0.13^**	-0.14^**	-0.14^**	-0.10^**	-0.11^**	-0.09^**	0.39^**	0.29^**	0.24^**
T1 MA (r)	0.01	0.03	0.02	0.06^*	0.03	0.02	-0.25^**	-0.23^**	-0.26^**
T2 MA (r)	0.06^*	0.08^**	0.09^**	0.10^**	0.08^**	0.09^**	-0.26^**	-0.24^**	-0.31^**
T3 MA (r)	0.09^**	0.04	0.05^*	0.10^**	0.07^**	0.06^**	-0.26^**	-0.27^**	-0.33^**

Variable		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
1.	T1 Paternal Educational Involvement	1
2.	T1 Maternal Educational Involvement	0.56^**	1
3.	T1 Children’s Mathematics Anxiety	-0.16^**	-0.22^**	1
4.	T1 Evaluation Anxiety	-0.20^**	-0.21^**	0.87^**	1
5.	T1 Learning Anxiety	-0.07^**	-0.15^**	0.87^**	0.56^**	1
6.	T1 Problem Solving Anxiety	-0.14^**	-0.21^**	0.90^**	0.65^**	0.79^**	1
7.	T1 Teacher Anxiety	-0.06^*	-0.18^**	0.75^**	0.45^**	0.75^**	0.70^**	1
8.	T2 Paternal Educational Involvement	0.46^**	0.36^**	-0.13^**	-0.14^**	-0.09^**	-0.09^**	-0.07^**	1
9.	T2 Maternal Educational Involvement	0.33^**	0.45^**	-0.15^**	-0.16^**	-0.09^**	-0.13^**	-0.10^**	0.52^**	1
10.	T2 Children’s Mathematics Anxiety	-0.16^**	-0.19^**	0.34^**	0.31^**	0.26^**	0.29^**	0.25^**	-0.24^**	-0.24^**	1
11.	T2 Evaluation Anxiety	-0.16^**	-0.16^**	0.28^**	0.32^**	0.18^**	0.21^**	0.15^**	-0.23^**	-0.20^**	0.87^**	1
12.	T2 Learning Anxiety	-0.11^**	-0.17^**	0.30^**	0.25^**	0.27^**	0.27^**	0.27^**	-0.18^**	-0.19^**	0.87^**	0.57^**	1
13.	T2 Problem Solving Anxiety	-0.15^**	-0.18^**	0.30^**	0.25^**	0.26^**	0.29^**	0.26^**	-0.22^**	-0.23^**	0.89^**	0.63^**	0.82^**	1
14.	T2 Teacher Anxiety	-0.09^**	-0.12^**	0.27^**	0.21^**	0.25^**	0.25^**	0.25^**	-0.17^**	-0.17^**	0.75^**	0.46^**	0.76^**	0.73^**	1
15.	T3 Paternal Educational Involvement	0.41^**	0.28^**	-0.10^**	-0.12^**	-0.05^*	-0.07^**	-0.05	0.53^**	0.33^**	-0.18^**	-0.18^**	-0.13^**	-0.15^**	-0.11^**	1
16.	T3 Maternal Educational Involvement	0.29^**	0.41^**	-0.09^**	-0.12^**	-0.03	-0.08^**	-0.04	0.36^**	0.51^**	-0.18^**	-0.18^**	-0.15^**	-0.16^**	-0.11^**	0.54^**	1
17.	T3 Children’s Mathematics Anxiety	-0.16^**	-0.20^**	0.30^**	0.29^**	0.22^**	0.26^**	0.21^**	-0.19^**	-0.21^**	0.47^**	0.41^**	0.40^**	0.41^**	0.37^**	-0.31^**	-0.31^**	1
18.	T3 Evaluation Anxiety	-0.15^**	-0.17^**	0.24^**	0.29^**	0.13^**	0.19^**	0.12^**	-0.19^**	-0.21^**	0.42^**	0.43^**	0.31^**	0.33^**	0.26^**	-0.32^**	-0.32^**	0.88^**	1
19.	T3 Learning Anxiety	-0.11^**	-0.17^**	0.27^**	0.22^**	0.24^**	0.24^**	0.22^**	-0.15^**	-0.15^**	0.40^**	0.31^**	0.39^**	0.38^**	0.37^**	-0.23^**	-0.23^**	0.88^**	0.60^**	1
20.	T3 Problem Solving Anxiety	-0.14^**	-0.19^**	0.29^**	0.25^**	0.23^**	0.28^**	0.24^**	-0.16^**	-0.19^**	0.42^**	0.32^**	0.40^**	0.41^**	0.37^**	-0.25^**	-0.27^**	0.91^**	0.66^**	0.83^**	1
21.	T3 Teacher Anxiety	-0.16^**	-0.18^**	0.28^**	0.24^**	0.24^**	0.26^**	0.24^**	-0.16^**	-0.15^**	0.38^**	0.27^**	0.38^**	0.37^**	0.35^**	-0.23^**	-0.21^**	0.80^**	0.53^**	0.78^**	0.79^**	1
M		2.57	2.87	1.88	2.22	1.62	1.77	1.62	2.70	3.10	1.84	2.19	1.60	1.69	1.56	2.67	3.13	1.78	2.16	1.55	1.60	1.51
SD		0.71	0.61	0.61	0.79	0.65	0.65	0.80	0.77	0.62	0.65	0.86	0.69	0.67	0.77	0.73	0.64	0.65	0.84	0.69	0.64	0.73