Anxiety as a Predictor of Movement During a Math Task in Elementary School Children

Abstract

Anxiety can come in various forms; general anxiety is characterized by feelings of excessive anxiety impacting multiple domains of everyday life, whereas anxiety may also manifest within a single domain (i.e., math anxiety). Those that present with anxiety who also have Autism Spectrum Disorder often exhibit ritualized movement as a coping mechanism for their anxiety. However, the relationship between anxiety and movement has not yet been explored within typically developing children. It is also unclear if the form of anxiety impacts the degree to which children move. In this study, we used Motion Energy Analysis to quantify the relationship between both general and math anxiety and movement during a math flashcards task. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to determine possible relationships between anxiety and movement. General anxiety significantly contributed to models predicting movement during the math flashcards task, while math anxiety did not. Our results suggest that movement could be an indicator of general anxiety in elementary aged children. KEYWORDS: General Anxiety; Math Anxiety; Elementary; Academics; Motion Energy Analysis; Movement; Ritualized Movement; Mathematics