Intergenerational transmission of math anxiety in Chinese primary school children: a longitudinal study of math learning involvement

Abstract

Math anxiety impairs learning and academic development. During primary school, environmental factors-particularly parents' math anxiety-play an important role in its development and may contribute to intergenerational transmission. Through daily interactions, parents influence children's beliefs and emotions, while children may also shape parental emotions over time. However, research on this intergenerational process among Chinese children remains limited. Grounded in the control-value theory of achievement emotions and the triadic reciprocal causation framework of math anxiety, this study examined whether children's math learning involvement mediates this transmission. A total of 1,765 third- and fourth-grade students (M age = 8.84 years; 1,055 girls) participated in four waves of data collection across two school years at six-month intervals. A cross-lagged panel model was used to examine intergenerational associations, and longitudinal mediation models were estimated to test indirect effects. Results showed that intergenerational transmission of math anxiety emerged during the T3-T4 period. Children's math anxiety also predicted subsequent increases in parents' math anxiety, indicating a bidirectional and transactional process. Math learning involvement served as a longitudinal mediator: higher parents' math anxiety at T1 and T2 predicted lower children's math learning involvement at T2 and T3, which predicted higher children's math anxiety at T3 and T4. These findings support theoretical perspectives emphasizing dynamic interactions between environmental and individual factors. They also highlight children's math learning involvement as a key pathway linking parental and children's math anxiety and suggest that reducing parents' math anxiety and promoting children's active involvement in math may reduce children's math anxiety.