MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN ADOLESCENT STUDENTS

Several studies highlight that many students feel negative feelings about mathematical learning and that the mathematics anxiety seems to play a central role in mathematical performance. More specifically students with higher level of maths anxiety are less efficient in mathematical tasks. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between specific mathematics anxiety as assessed by AMAS, trait and state anxiety as assessed by STAI-Y, and mathematical skills assessed through the ABCA tests in a sample of 83 adolescent students (78.3% males) without diagnosis of dyscalculia and cognitive disorder attending their first year of secondary school. Results showed that 38% of the students referred high level of maths anxiety. Independent T-test revealed that female students referred a higher level of maths anxiety as well as of trait and state anxiety than male ones, while there were no differences in the mathematics performance. The simultaneous multivariate linear regression analysis showed that maths anxiety was influenced by trait anxiety and in its turn has an impact on the high level mathematics performances (i.e. arithmetic facts). Understanding the relationships between maths anxiety and maths learning and performance may have relevant implications in clinical, educational and didactic practice

MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN ADOLESCENT STUDENTS

Several studies highlight that many students feel negative feelings about mathematical learning and that the mathematics anxiety seems to play a central role in mathematical performance. More specifically students with higher level of maths anxiety are less efficient in mathematical tasks. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between specific mathematics anxiety as assessed by AMAS, trait and state anxiety as assessed by STAI-Y, and mathematical skills assessed through the ABCA tests in a sample of 83 adolescent students (78.3% males) without diagnosis of dyscalculia and cognitive disorder attending their first year of secondary school. Results showed that 38% of the students referred high level of maths anxiety. Independent T-test revealed that female students referred a higher level of maths anxiety as well as of trait and state anxiety than male ones, while there were no differences in the mathematics performance. The simultaneous multivariate linear regression analysis showed that maths anxiety was influenced by trait anxiety and in its turn has an impact on the high level mathematics performances (i.e. arithmetic facts). Understanding the relationships between maths anxiety and maths learning and performance may have relevant implications in clinical, educational and didactic practice

EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF REHABILITATION TREATMENT IN NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER

Complex disability is very difficult to manage. It usually subtends very serious clinical pictures, because it affect several body systems, or because it is associated with intellectual disability and behavioral disorders. Often affected patients are unable to communicate their basic needs. All these factors combine to make the management of these patients very complex, and those who care for them realize how important it is to find a way to detect their state and to identify their potential capabilities. Developing appropriate rehabilitation programs for these patients requires additional effort and an assessment capacity that is as objective as possible. Few scales cited in the literature are capable of evaluating these aspects in patients with complex disabilities, among them the Barthel Index (Mahoney & Barthel 1965) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior scale II (Sparrow et al. 2005). The majority of these scales often tend to depict the data regarding the disease to a degree of severity that precludes adequate individual rehabilitation program development. There is a dire need for a more appropriate instrument, an observational grid that is capable of identifying the potential of this patient population and evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions provided. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of rehabilitation interventions in a group of patients with IQ <32 (determined by the Vineland II scale) using an evaluation tool created ad hoc called D-Rubrics, designed with the intent to identify “microdifferences” between baseline (T0) and post-rehabilitation (T1). The goal is part of a more long term-term objective which involves developing an effective assessment tool for patients with complex disabilities. Such an assessment tool should be practical, easy to administer and useful in both clinical and research settings