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Although the detrimental effects of math anxiety in adults are well understood, few studies have examined how it affects younger children who are beginning to learn math in a formal academic setting. Here, we examine the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in second and third graders. In response to the need for a grade-appropriate measure of assessing math anxiety in this group we first describe the development of Scale for Early Mathematics Anxiety (SEMA), a new measure for assessing math anxiety in second and third graders that is based on the Math Anxiety Rating Scale. We demonstrate the construct validity and reliability of the SEMA and use it to characterize the effect of math anxiety on standardized measures of math abilities, as assessed using the Mathematical Reasoning and Numerical Operations subtests of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-II). Math achievement, as measured by the WIAT-II Math Composite score, was significantly and negatively correlated with SEMA but not with trait anxiety scores. Additional analyses showed that SEMA scores were strongly correlated with Mathematical Reasoning scores, which involves more complex verbal problem solving. SEMA scores were weakly correlated with Numerical Operations which assesses basic computation skills, suggesting that math anxiety has a pronounced effect on more demanding calculations. We also found that math anxiety has an equally detrimental impact on math achievement regardless of whether children have an anxiety related to numbers or to the situational and social experience of doing math. Critically, these effects were unrelated to trait anxiety, providing the first evidence that the specific effects of math anxiety can be detected in the earliest stages of formal math learning in school. Our findings provide new insights into the developmental origins of math anxiety, and further underscore the need to remediate math anxiety and its deleterious effects on math achievement in young children.

The diagnosis and treatment of cancer are sources of considerable psychological stress for patients and their families. Although treatments have become increasingly effective for a wide range of cancers, the initial diagnosis still involves a threat of loss of life for many patients. Even in those cases in which the prognosis for survival is good, there may be the threat of the loss of some significant aspect of personal functioning, damage to physical appearance, or loss of physical functioning (e.g., Heinrich, Schag, & Ganz, 1984). In addition to its importance in its own right, the diagnosis of cancer represents a prototype of acute, extreme stress that confronts many families. A necessary first step in research on stressors such as cancer is to document levels of psychological distress and identify individual differences among family members in order to set the stage for subsequent research on the processes that may contribute to distress.Cancer appears to present at least a short-term threat or crisis to patients, as reflected in increased symptoms of depression and anxiety near the time of diagnosis (e.g., Andersen, Andersen,

This article discusses developmental changes in perceptions of control, the relationship between perceived control and strategies used by children to cope with stress, and the interaction between perceived control and coping in their association with psychological adjustment and disorder. Developmental research on children's perceptions of control has identifed both changes and consistencies in contingency, competence, and control beliefs during childhood and early adolescence. Developmental changes in coping have also been documented, with problem-focused skills emerging during childhood, and more rapid development of emotion-focused coping skills during later childhood and early adolescence. Studies have shown that perceptions of control are related to the ways that children and adolescents cope with stress. The implications of this research for interventions aimed at enhancing children's problem-solving and coping skills are discussed.Josh, an 11-year-old boy, and Amy, an 11-year-old girl, both share the common experience of being teased by other children. They find such experiences stressful, but they differ considerably in their beliefs about the controllability of these problems and in their actions to try to deal with them. Although Josh believes children in general can stop others from teasing them, he sees