Math anxiety and deficient executive control: does reappraisal modulate this link?

The literature suggests an interplay between executive control functions and emotion regulation processes, with each playing a key role in math anxiety. We examined the relation between the use of two different emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal and suppression) and the ability to reduce emotional interference in high-conflict situations (i.e., executive control of attention) in cases of math anxiety. A sample of 107 adults completed emotion regulation tendencies and math anxiety questionnaires and performed a flanker task following the priming of a math-related or negative word. The findings revealed: (1) highly math-anxious individuals had difficulty controlling emotional distractions induced by math information, even as simple as math-related words, in high-conflict conditions; and (2) the tendency to use reappraisal in everyday situations was associated with math-anxious individuals' ability to avoid heightened emotional reactions when encountering math-related (i.e., threatening) information. These findings point to the efficacy of reappraisal-focused intervention and suggest an innovative mechanism through which reappraisal reduces emotional reactions and improves performance among math-anxious individuals, indicating a new way to approach interventions for math anxiety.

Automated summary

The study found that individuals with math anxiety had difficulty controlling emotional distractions caused by math information, even as simple as math-related words, in high-conflict conditions. It also revealed that the tendency to use reappraisal in everyday situations was associated with math-anxious individuals' ability to avoid heightened emotional reactions when encountering math-related (threatening) information. These findings suggest the efficacy of reappraisal-focused intervention and provide an innovative mechanism to reduce emotional reactions and improve performance among math-anxious individuals.