Examining the reciprocal relations of mathematics anxiety to quantitative reasoning and number knowledge in Chinese children

•Math anxiety was linked to quantitative reasoning and number knowledge in children.•Time 1 quantitative reasoning and number knowledge predicted Time 2 math anxiety.•Time 1 math anxiety did not predict Time 2 quantitative reasoning and number knowledge.•Quantitative reasoning and number knowledge were reciprocally related.•The prediction of T1 quantitative reasoning on T2 number knowledge was stronger. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal relations of mathematics anxiety to quantitative reasoning and number knowledge in Chinese children. Three hundred and sixteen 6-year-old Chinese children in Hong Kong participated in two waves of assessments, eight months apart. Cross-lagged panel analyses showed that prior quantitative reasoning and number knowledge predicted lower mathematics anxiety, even after the effects of gender, mothers’ educational levels, and general anxiety were taken into account. However, earlier mathematics anxiety did not predict later quantitative reasoning and number knowledge. Our findings were consistent with the Deficit Theory, which postulates that mathematics anxiety comes from poor mathematical competence but not vice versa. We also found a reciprocal association between quantitative reasoning and number knowledge, in which initial quantitative reasoning had a stronger prediction on later number knowledge. Taken together with previous research, this result highlights the importance of quantitative reasoning in children’s mathematics learning and its role in mathematics education.