Math Anxiety Questionnaire: Similar Latent Structure in Brazilian and German School Children

Abstract

Math anxiety is a relatively frequent phenomenon often related to low mathematics achievement and dyscalculia. In the present study, the German and the Brazilian versions of the Mathematics Anxiety Questionnaire (MAQ) were examined. The two-dimensional structure originally reported for the German MAQ, that includes both affective and cognitive components of math anxiety was reproduced in the Brazilian version. Moreover, mathematics anxiety also was found to increase with age in both populations and was particularly associated with basic numeric competencies and more complex arithmetics. The present results suggest that mathematics anxiety as measured by the MAQ presents the same internal structure in culturally very different populations.