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Math anxiety refers to a psychological state characterized by feelings of tension, apprehension, or fear in response to situations that require mathematical reasoning or skills (Richardson & Suinn, 1972). One of the most pervasive negative outcomes associated with maths anxiety is the tendency to avoid maths (Ashcraft, 2002). Individuals experiencing maths anxiety seem to be inclined to avoid activities that could enhance their maths skills, such as doing maths homework, participating in maths class, and taking extras maths courses (Ramirez et al., 2018). Consequently, their performance in mathematics can deteriorate, further increasing their levels of maths anxiety and perpetuating a vicious cycle. In the long term, maths anxiety can limit academic and career opportunities that require proficiency in mathematics (Ahmed, 2018; Ashcraft, 2002; Hembre, 1990). One can argue that a potential mechanism employed by maths-anxious individuals to escape or avoid negative feelings triggered by maths is procrastination. Procrastination is a delay in beginning or completing an “intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay” (Steel, 2007, p. 66). In favour of this hypothesis, Yu et al. (2021) examined the indirect effects of grit (i.e., perseverance) and procrastination on the association between maths anxiety and maths achievement in 11th-grade Chinese students. Results indicated an indirect effect of maths anxiety on maths achievement through grit and procrastination in serial, with grit as affecting procrastination, which in turn influences maths achievement (i.e., maths anxiety → grit → procrastination → maths achievement). Furthermore, the overall indirect effect of procrastination alone was also significant (i.e., maths anxiety → procrastination → maths achievement). This finding indicates that maths anxiety could potentially diminish students’ perseverance in learning maths, leading to increased tendencies for procrastination, reduced engagement in maths-related activities, and avoidance of challenging maths tasks. Consequently, these behaviours may contribute to poorer academic performance in maths. In addition to that, maths anxiety is also linked to negative attitudes towards maths. Although attitudes towards maths can be considered an umbrella term that may include different affective factors related to maths, it is widely accepted that this construct encompasses factors such as enjoyment of maths, self-assessment of maths competence, and expectations regarding one’s ability to learn and improve their maths skills (Dowker, 2021). Ashcraft and Ridley (2005) summarized findings from prior meta-analysis studies on the relationship between maths anxiety and attitudes towards maths. They observed moderate to high negative correlations between maths anxiety and both enjoyment of maths (r=-.47) and self-confidence in math (r=-.65) among undergraduate students. This indicates that higher levels of maths anxiety are associated with decreased enjoyment of maths and reduced self-confidence in math. Drawing upon the evidence presented above, it is unsurprising that maths anxiety could significantly impact an individual’s career choice. Therefore, the primary goal of the present study is to explore potential associations between maths anxiety and the career choice made by undergraduate students. We will examine how maths anxiety is associated with undergraduate students’ maths avoidance, as measured by participants' agreement on whether their major choice was influenced by maths or related subjects as a requirement, and attitudes towards maths, as measured by participants’ enjoyment of maths and their self-perceived maths abilities. We will also examine how including an interaction term between career choice, coded as STEM and non-STEM, and maths anxiety affects the models. Furthermore, a secondary goal of the current study is to investigate how procrastination influences the association between maths anxiety and maths performance.

Maths anxiety refers to the feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that arises when one is faced with a math-related task. Maths anxiety can negatively impact performance in mathematical tasks, leading to avoidance behaviours and reduced mathematical competence. One interesting aspect of maths anxiety is that it can be socially transmitted by adults to children. Research has shown that teachers' math anxiety can influence their students' math performance and attitudes towards math. When teachers experience high levels of math anxiety, they may transmit their negative attitudes towards math to their students, which can lead to lower math achievement and increased math anxiety among children. It is particularly concerning because students pursuing a major in early childhood and elementary education exhibit some of the highest levels of math anxiety in college. As a result, the adults who will formally introduce math to children may experience high levels of anxiety. In summary, this evidence highlights the need for better understanding of teachers’ maths anxiety. In the current study, we are interested to investigate how teachers’ anxiety about teaching maths is associated with their mental health and well-being. Furthermore, we aim to investigate how teachers’ anxiety about teaching influences their teaching practices.

Math anxiety is defined as a feeling of tension and apprehension that interferes with math performance ability, the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations. Previous studies suggest that primary/elementary teachers report higher levels of math anxiety. As a result, exposure to negative attitudes toward mathematics by teachers, which are children’s role models, contributes to children’s math anxiety. Our aim is to investigate whether math anxiety is associated with beliefs about math and attitudes towards math in primary/elementary teachers.

Previous studies have explored the psychological impact of muscular dystrophy and similar neuromuscular disorders (NMD)rather than the psychological needs. This is best summarised by a recent meta-analysis (Pascaul-Morena et al., 2022) which identified 14 studies exploring depression, 9 studies exploring anxiety and 8 studies exploring obsessive compulsive disorder in individuals with Duchenne MD and Becker MD. However, the authors cautioned that children and adolescents were overrepresented and that sample sizes were limited. The present study seeks to address these limitations by conducting a short online anonymous cross-sectional survey with adults. Online surveys often have higher numbers than other data collection possibly partially due to reduced participant burden. Quality of life has been identified as a domain of interest in individuals living with a neuromuscular disorder (Graham et al., 2011), however few previous studies have used a quality of life measure validated with individuals with a neuromuscular disorder such as muscular dystrophy (Bann et al. 2015; Powell et al., 2020). This research will also include measures of social support and stigma which are less often explored with individuals with a NMD. Finally, no studies have been conducted with adults in the Irish population. The main aim of this research is to explore the psychosocial needs including quality of life, social support, coping styles, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms of individuals living with a NMD. A secondary aim is to explore the role of stigma in the lives of individuals living with a NMD. The objective is to obtain data directly from individuals living with a NMD using a survey to identify their psychosocial needs and experience of stigma.

This article aims to help readers to understand the importance of mitigating maths anxiety in home and school environments and to drive the attention of the policymakers to the fact that maths anxiety prevalence is shaped by gender and socioeconomic status, among other factors. Because maths anxiety can harm students’ performance, career choices and teachers’ well-being and instruction skills, it must be addressed for the benefit of society and individuals. The article describes maths anxiety and its impact on maths education, good practices in the school environment to mitigate it and showcases a continuous professional development "Teachers’ Maths Anxiety classroom management" to support teachers to deal with both maths anxiety in students and their anxiety about teaching maths. The programme was elaborated by Dr Flavia H. Santos, under the Arithmós Project, funded by the Irish Research Council in collaboration with Technological University Dublin.

Invited lecture at the University College London, UCL Institute of Education, Mathematical Cognition Group Seminar Series on 6th July 2022, This conferences includes findings of two studies presented at the MCLS2022, the Mathematical Cognition Learning Society meeting at Antwerp - Belgium, in two independent symposia. The first study had two aims, to estimate the prevalence of Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) in a developing country contrasting z-scores and percentiles in numerical cognition tasks and to investigate the developmental framework of numerical cognition, based on two theoretical models (Triple Code and Four Steps Model) using a cognitive battery for the diagnosis of DD. This research is published at DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12050653. The second study concerns to a game-based learning tool developed to support mathematical learning in children. This study aimed to examine whether children’s in-program progress (i.e., the number of content areas, exercises, and percentage correct responses) in Calcularis® could predict children’s overall numerical cognition performance and per composite scores on the light of two theoretical models (Four Steps Model and Numeracy Component Model). This researcher is submitted and under review. (Registration DOI https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/5YRZM).

Invited lecture at the University College London, UCL The UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health for the Clinical and Applied Paediatric Neuropsychology MSc Programme 2022, on 12nd January 2022