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Math anxiety (MA) and math performance are generally negatively correlated (Barroso et al., 2020; Namkung et al., 2019). However, the mechanisms underlying this negative association remain unclear. According to the Attentional Control Theory (ACT; Eysenck, et al., 2007), anxious individuals experience impaired attentional control during problem solving, which compromises their performance on cognitive tasks. In a sample of 168 elementary and middle school students, the current study used an eye-tracking approach to investigate whether math-anxious students exhibit deficits in their attentional control during a math problem solving task, and whether such attentional control deficits account for the negative association between MA and performance on this math task. Consistent with the ACT, we found that students with higher MA were more likely to engage attention to both task-relevant and task-irrelevant distractors during problem solving, and their enhanced attention to these distractors was associated with their impaired performance on the math task. These findings suggest that the MA-related math performance deficit is partly mediated by impaired attentional control, which is indicated by the maladaptive attentional bias toward distracting information during math problem solving. 

BackgroundMath anxiety (MA) and math achievement are generally negatively associated. AimsThis study investigated whether and how classroom engagement behaviors mediate the negative association between MA and math achievement. SampleData were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study that examines the roles of affective factors in math learning. Participants consisted of 207 students from 4th through 6th grade (50% female). MethodsMath anxiety was measured by self‐report using the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children (Chiu & Henry, 1990,Measurement and valuation in Counseling and Development, 23, 121). Students self‐reported their engagement in math classrooms using a modified version of the Math and Science Engagement Scale (Wang et al., 2016,Learning and Instruction, 43, 16). Math achievement was assessed using the Applied Problem, Calculations, and Number Matrices subtests from the Woodcock‐Johnson IV Tests of Achievement (Schrank et al., 2014,Woodcock‐Johnson IV Tests of Achievement. Riverside). Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the mediating role of classroom engagement in the association between MA and math achievement. ResultsStudents with higher MA demonstrated less cognitive‐behavioral and emotional engagement compared to students with lower MA. Achievement differences among students with various levels of MA were partly accounted for by their cognitive‐behavioral engagement in the math classroom. ConclusionsOverall, students with high MA exhibit avoidance patterns in everyday learning, which may act as a potential mechanism for explaining why high MA students underperform their low MA peers.