Internalizing symptoms and working memory as predictors of mathematical attainment trajectories across the primary–secondary education transition

Abstract

The transition from primary to secondary education is a critical period in early adolescence which is related to increased anxiety and stress, increased prevalence of mental health issues, and decreased maths performance, suggesting it is an important period to investigate maths attainment. Previous research has focused on anxiety and working memory as predictors of maths, without investigating any long-term effects around the education transition. This study examined working memory and internalizing symptoms as predictors of children's maths attainment trajectories (age 7–16) across the transition to secondary education using secondary longitudinal analysis of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). This study found statistically significant, but very weak evidence for the effect of internalizing symptoms and working memory on maths attainment. Greater parental education was the strongest predictor, suggesting that children of parents with a degree (compared with those with a CSE) gain the equivalent of almost a year's schooling in maths. However, due to methodological limitations, the effects of working memory and internalizing symptoms on attainment cannot be fully understood with the current study. Additional research is needed to further uncover this relationship, using more time-appropriate measures.

Predictors of mathematical attainment trajectories across the primary-to-secondary education transition: parental factors and the home environment

“…Although, there were no significant differences in maths attainment at age 11 and the rate of change over time between children to parents with a CSE (and below), and children to parents with vocational qualifications. Unsurprisingly, parental education was found to be the strongest predictor of maths attainment at age 11, and of the rate in change over time, although, the effect sizes were slightly smaller in this study compared to previous analyses [62]. One of the aims of this study was to help identify the underlying mechanisms in which greater parental education contributes to higher maths attainment, i.e.…”

“…As expected, internalizing symptoms and working memory predicted maths attainment trajectories, with a very small effect. These results are not discussed here in depth as they were included solely to adjust for them; see Evans et al [62] for further discussion of these findings.…”

“…greater independence) prior to the transition predicted a decline in depression post-transition [61]. Though many of these aspects relate to 'emotional support', previous studies have found that children with fewer family 'resources' (such as low SES and parental education), have worse academic [50] and maths [62] performance across the transition, and that this may be explained by decreased parental support [50]. However, it is currently unknown how these parental factors might affect maths attainment trajectories across the transition.…”

“…This study looks at several indicators of the home environment and parental factors including: early home teaching, parental mental health, parent-child home interactions, parent-child relationships, school involvement, parental education qualifications and child gendered play. The analysis includes contextual variables (socio-economic status, child IQ and biological sex) and measures of working memory and internalizing symptoms which were found to predict maths attainment in this sample by a previous study [62].…”

Maths attitudes, school affect and teacher characteristics as predictors of maths attainment trajectories in primary and secondary education

“…Increased internalizing symptoms predicted lower attainment, and higher SES, IQ, working memory, parental school involvement and increased parent-child harmony all predicted higher maths attainment at age 11 (table 4). For a detailed discussion of these findings, see Evans et al [70] and Evans & Field [69]. Table 5 shows the model parameters for the slope of the primary education model (i.e.…”