A network psychometric analysis of maths anxiety factors in Italian psychology students

TL;DR

This study validates the Italian translation of the MAS-UK (MAS-IT) in Italian psychology undergraduates and finds that the original 3-factor structure does not fit MAS-IT. Using CFA and network-based Exploratory Graph Analysis, the authors identify a four-factor MAS-IT structure with a highly stable Passive Observation factor, while other factors show varying stability likely due to cultural/contextual changes such as increased cashless payment usage. The results suggest a need for population-specific, potentially shorter psychometric tools tailored to psychology students, along with data sharing to advance methodological refinements. Overall, the work highlights how maths anxiety manifests differently across cultural and educational contexts and informs future instrument development and educational interventions.

Abstract

Dealing with mathematics can induce significant anxiety, strongly affecting psychology students' academic performance and career prospects. This phenomenon is known as maths anxiety and several scales can measure it. Most scales were created in English and abbreviated versions were translated and validated among Italian populations (e.g. Abbreviated Maths Anxiety Scale). This study translated the 3-factor MAS-UK scale in Italian to produce a new tool, MAS-IT, validated specifically in a sample of Italian undergraduates enrolled in psychology or related BSc programmes. A sample of 324 Italian undergraduates completed the MAS-IT. The data were analysed using confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), testing the original MAS-UK 3-factor model. CFA results revealed that the original MAS-UK 3-factor model did not fit the Italian data. A subsequent Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) identified 4 distinct components/factors of maths anxiety detected by MAS-IT. The items relative to "Passive Observation maths anxiety" factor remained stable across the analyses, whereas "Evaluation maths anxiety" and "Everyday/Social maths anxiety" items showed a reduced or poor item stability. Quantitative findings indicated potential cultural or contextual differences in the expression of maths anxiety in today's psychology undergraduates, underlining the need for more appropriate tools to be used among psychology students.

Figures (6)

• Figure 1: Box plot comparing mean Likert scores of MAS-IT questions, grouped by MAS-UK factors, over students’ academic years. Empty dots indicate outliers; bars indicate data distribution.
• Figure 2: Box plot comparing mean Likert scores of MAS-IT questions over MAS-UK factors, grouped by students’ academic years. Empty dots indicate outliers; bars indicate data distribution.
• Figure 3: Correlogram of MAS-IT items grouped by MAS-UK factors. Blank spaces represent non significant correlations (p$\geq$ .05) between items.
• Figure 4: MAS network representing the clustering of the MAS-IT items and the strength of correlations between them.
• Figure 5: Correlogram between EGA factors and MAS-UK factors on MAS-IT data. All correlation coefficients (Kendall-Tau) resulted significant (p$<$ .05).