Trait Anxiety and Children's Academic Achievement: The Role of Executive Function

• Other Authors: Alfonso, Sarah V. (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Psychology
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2019_Fall_Alfonso_fsu_0071N_15579

A number of studies have demonstrated a strong association between self-regulation, in particular executive function (EF), academic skills and problem behaviors in children (Fuhs, Farran, & Nesbitt, 2015). There is evidence suggesting that anxiety and anxiety symptoms, common among children and adolescents, are associated with poor academic achievement and even academic failure (Owens, Stevenson, Hadwin, & Norgate, 2012). Although results derived primarily from adult studies indicate that trait anxiety and self-regulation are related, less attention has been given to examining this relation among children. The goals of this study were to examine the associations among EF, trait anxiety and academic achievement and to test the mediating role of EF on the relation between trait anxiety and academic achievement in middle school children. A sample of 174 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students (M age = 12.78, SD = 1.18) were recruited from local middle schools and summer programs in Tallahassee, Florida and Miami-Dade County, Florida. Students completed an assessment battery consisting of multiple measures of working memory, inhibitory control, shifting, trait anxiety, and reading and math skills. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation models were used to determine the best fitting model of EF and to examine the associations between the EF and trait anxiety. Meditational analyses were conducted to examine the indirect effects of EF on the relation between trait anxiety and each academic outcome. The EF factors significantly predicted Trait Anxiety as hypothesized but there was no difference in the strength of the associations. EF mediated the relation between Trait Anxiety and academic outcomes, but the strength of the relation did not vary by EF dimension. The findings suggest that trait anxiety enhances processing efficiency, which may lead to improvements in academic performance in middle school students. === A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. === 2019 === October 30, 2019. === academic achievement, children, executive function, trait anxiety === Includes bibliographical references. === Christopher J. Lonigan, Professor Directing Thesis; Jesse Cougle, Committee Member; Colleen Ganley, Committee Member.