Both SEMA subscales — numerical and situational anxiety — are equally negatively related to math achievement

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 2 associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2012 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q3 i? After controlling for FSIQ, Numerical Processing Anxiety (ρ = −0.21) and Situational and Performance Anxiety (ρ = −0.19) were each significantly negatively correlated with the WIAT-II Math Composite. → Wu SS 2012 q3 i? Both subscales correlated with Mathematical Reasoning but not with Numerical Operations. → Wu SS 2012 (2)

Evidence¶

Wu SS 2012¶

Wu SS, Barth M, Amin H, Malcarne V and Menon V (2012) Math anxiety in second and third graders and its relation to mathematics achievement. Front. Psychology 3:162. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00162

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Subscale correlational analyses in the 162-child sample controlling for FSIQ, shown in Figure 3. The article reports the printed ρ and p values for both subscales against the Math Composite.

"the Numerical Processing Anxiety subscale of SEMA was significantly and negatively correlated with WIAT-II Math Composite scores ( ρ =− 0.21, p < 0.05) as was the Situational and Performance Anxiety subscale ( ρ =− 0.19, p < 0.05)."

Wu SS 2012 (2)¶

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Follow-up subscale analyses against the two WIAT-II math subtests in the same sample. The article reports the printed ρ and p values for each subscale against each subtest.

"Numerical Processing Anxiety and Situational and Performance Anxiety were correlated with Mathematical Reasoning ( ρ =− 0.27, p < 0.01; ρ =− 0.28, p < 0.01, respectively) but not Numerical Operations ( ρ =− 0.13, p = 0.15; ρ =− 0.09, p = 0.32, respectively)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

Academic Anxiety — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
Affect Regulation — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Math anxiety is significantly negatively correlated with math achievement in second and third graders, independent of trait anxiety and IQ — a broader claim this one bears on
Math anxiety is not significantly correlated with reading achievement in young children — related
Math anxiety relates more strongly to Mathematical Reasoning than to Numerical Operations in second and third graders — related
Math anxiety is not significantly correlated with trait anxiety in young children — related
Math anxiety correlates strongly and negatively with mathematics achievement among third graders — a broader claim this one bears on

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`claim`
`id`	`math-anxiety-subscale-effects-on-achievement`
`title`	`Both SEMA subscales — numerical and situational anxiety — are equally negatively related to math achievement`
`description`	`Both SEMA subscales — numerical and situational anxiety — are equally negatively related to math achievement`
`status`	`review`
`evidence_strength`	`moderate`
`newest_evidence`	`2012`
`source_checked`	`2026-10-20`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-10-17`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	2 — `wu-ss-2012`, `wu-ss-2012-2`

Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.

Both SEMA subscales — numerical and situational anxiety — are equally negatively related to math achievement¶