Cognitive and Emotional Math Problems Largely Dissociate: Prevalence of Developmental Dyscalculia and Mathematics Anxiety

A negative correlation between math anxiety and mathematics performance is frequently reported. Thus, some may assume that high levels of mathematics anxiety are associated with poor mathematical understanding. However, no previous research has clearly measured the association between mathematics anxiety and mathematical learning disability. To fill this gap, here we investigated the comorbidity of developmental dyscalculia (a selective, serious deficit in mathematical performance) and mathematics anxiety in a sample of 1,757 primary school (8- to 9-year-old) and secondary school (12- to 13-year-old) children. We found that children with developmental dyscalculia were twice as likely to have high mathematics anxiety as were children with typical mathematics performance. More girls had comorbid mathematics anxiety and developmental dyscalculia than did boys. However, 77% of children with high mathematics anxiety had typical or high mathematics performance. Our findings suggest that cognitive and emotional mathematics problems largely dissociate and call into question the assumption that high mathematics anxiety is exclusively linked to poor mathematics performance. Different intervention methods need to be developed to prevent and treat emotional and cognitive blocks of mathematical development. Educational Impact and Implications Statement This study shows that about one fifth of children meeting criteria for developmental dyscalculia are also highly anxious about mathematics. Yet, the majority of children with high mathematics anxiety have adequate or even high mathematics performance. These findings suggest that for the most part, each of these math learning problems needs to be treated separately; interventions targeted toward reducing or offloading worrying thoughts may be beneficial to children with math anxiety, whereas interventions focusing on improvement of numerical skills and working memory are more likely to be successful in the treatment of developmental dyscalculia.