Data_Sheet_1_Relation Between Mathematical Performance, Math Anxiety, and Affective Priming in Children With and Without Developmental Dyscalculia.docx

<p>Many children show negative emotions related to mathematics and some even develop mathematics anxiety. The present study focused on the relation between negative emotions and arithmetical performance in children with and without developmental dyscalculia (DD) using an affective priming task. Previous findings suggested that arithmetic performance is influenced if an affective prime precedes the presentation of an arithmetic problem. In children with DD specifically, responses to arithmetic operations are supposed to be facilitated by both negative and mathematics-related primes (=negative math priming effect).We investigated mathematical performance, math anxiety, and the domain-general abilities of 172 primary school children (76 with DD and 96 controls). All participants also underwent an affective priming task which consisted of the decision whether a simple arithmetic operation (addition or subtraction) that was preceded by a prime (positive/negative/neutral or mathematics-related) was true or false. Our findings did not reveal a negative math priming effect in children with DD. Furthermore, when considering accuracy levels, gender, or math anxiety, the negative math priming effect could not be replicated. However, children with DD showed more math anxiety when explicitly assessed by a specific math anxiety interview and showed lower mathematical performance compared to controls. Moreover, math anxiety was equally present in boys and girls, even in the earliest stages of schooling, and interfered negatively with performance. In conclusion, mathematics is often associated with negative emotions that can be manifested in specific math anxiety, particularly in children with DD. Importantly, present findings suggest that in the assessed age group, it is more reliable to judge math anxiety and investigate its effects on mathematical performance explicitly by adequate questionnaires than by an affective math priming task.</p

Demographic and clinical characteristics of young adults by <i>PER2</i> rs56013859 genotype: means and SE (in parenthesis) adjusted for sex.

1<p>“Enriched” family adversity index as proposed by Rutter and Quinton (1977) measuring the presence of 11 adverse family factors covering characteristics of the parents, the partnership, and the family environment during a period of one year prior to birth;</p>2<p>obstetric adversity score counting the presence of 9 adverse conditions during pregnancy, delivery, and postnatal period such as preterm labor, asphyxia or seizures;</p>3<p>referring to the last 45 days;</p>4<p>number of standard drinks, each containing 10–13 g alcohol.</p

Mean AUDIT scores (SE), adjusted for sex, in young adults grouped by <i>PER2</i> rs56013859 genotype and exposure to negative life events.

<p>Mean AUDIT scores (SE), adjusted for sex, in young adults grouped by <i>PER2</i> rs56013859 genotype and exposure to negative life events.</p

Spatiotemporal mRNA expression patterns of <i>PER2</i> in humans.

<p>Data were extracted from Brain Span, Atlas of Developing Human Brain.</p

Linear regression models testing the effects of <i>PER2</i> rs56013859 genotype, severe negative life events and their interaction on drinking measures in young adult regular drinkers (n = 131).

<p>Note: All models adjusted for sex and age. Main effects of genotype and severe negative life events were entered in a first step, followed by the interaction term in a second step.</p>1<p>Unstandardized regression coefficients from linear regression (standard errors);</p>2<p>referring to the last 45 days.</p