Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Previous research has highlighted the negative effects of math anxiety on math \nlearning and performance in children and adults. However, it has been shown that \nwhen math anxious individuals are also high in emotional regulation they perform \nas well in math as their non-math-anxious peers. Further, research has found that \nthe most effective interventions for math anxiety focus on emotional regulation \nskills. Mindfulness has been used as a treatment for anxiety, particularly by \ndecreasing stress, improving emotional regulation, and self-regulation skills. This \nstudy tested whether a classroom-based mindfulness intervention reduced math \nanxiety among 4th and 5th grade students. Twelve grade 4 and 5 classrooms, from 5 \ndifferent schools were assigned to either a Mindfulness program (MindUp), an \nactive control (relaxation program), or a Business-as-usual control. Students in each \nclass (N=142) completed measures of procedural and conceptual math ability, math \nanxiety, general anxiety, and mindfulness before and after program implementation. \nThere was a significant reduction in math anxiety between pre-test and post-test for \nGrade 5 students as well as improvements in math fluency among students in the \nMindfulness condition, and improvements in conceptual ability among students in \nboth the Mindfulness and Relaxation conditions. These findings are consistent with \nprevious research highlighting the benefits of emotional focused programs to \nincrease math performance but is the first of its kind to show benefits of a \nclassroom-based mindfulness intervention on math anxiety and math outcomes for \nearly elementary students.
Author: Nadine Yildiz
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2924940966