Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
The gender gap in STEM majors and careers is very prominent and alarming (Beilock & Maloney, 2015). Students are more likely to avoid STEM careers when they show higher levels of Mathematics...Show moreThe gender gap in STEM majors and careers is very prominent and alarming (Beilock & Maloney, 2015). Students are more likely to avoid STEM careers when they show higher levels of Mathematics Anxiety (MA; Ahmed, 2018). The current study investigates the difference in Mathematics Anxiety between male and female students in their first year of the preacademic educational track (HAVO, atheneum and gymnasium) in secondary school in the Netherlands. The Numerical Dot-Probe Task (NDPT) is a computerized task that is based on attentional bias and less susceptible to bias than self-report questionnaires. (Rubinsten, Eidlin, Wohl, & Akibli, 2015). Related concepts to MA that will be controlled for are; mathematical achievement, general anxiety and working memory. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling, the final sample consisted of seven students. Using the adapted t-test, z-scores of all participants were compared in order to answer the research question (Crawford, Garthwaite, & Wood, 2010). 100% of girls and 20% of boys showed higher levels of MA when looking at their scores on the self-report questionnaires compared to their score on the NDPT. Overall, the girls’ MA score was overestimated and the boys’ MA score was underestimated. However, this effect was not strong enough to result in an overrepresentation of girls and an underrepresentation of boys in the population of children with high levels of MA when looking at the self-report questionnaires. Results suggested that the prominent gender gap in STEM studies might not be due to gender differences in MA. Due to the smaller sample size, it is important that these findings are replicated in future studies using bigger samples. Stereotype threat is a variable that could explain the STEM gender gap and should thus be included in these future studies.Show less
Various forms of disease-related anxiety (DRA) have shown to correlate with negative mental health outcomes in cardiovascular (CVD) patients. The aim of this article was to provide a systematic...Show moreVarious forms of disease-related anxiety (DRA) have shown to correlate with negative mental health outcomes in cardiovascular (CVD) patients. The aim of this article was to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between DRA and psychological outcomes in patients with CVD. A systematic literature search was performed on the 16th of April, 2021. A random-effect model meta-analyses were conducted on cross-sectional data assessing the correlations between various DRA types and psychological outcomes. Study results which were eligible for inclusion but could not be analysed statistically were described in a summary of findings. We found 20 eligible studies of mostly cross-sectional design. Twelve of these studies were included in the meta-analysis. The performed meta-analyses showed that higher levels of cardiac anxiety (CAQ total) were correlated with higher levels of general anxiety (r= 0.47, p<.001) and depression (r= 0.34, p<.001) (HADS). The same relationship was found between the three susbcales of cardiac anxiety (CAQ fear, CAQ avoidance, CAQ attention) and general anxiety (rfear= 0.50, p <.001; ravoidance= 0.19, p <.001; rattention= 0.38,p<.001) and depression (rfear= 0.40, p <.001; ravoidance= 0.32, p <.001; rattention= .31,p <.001) (HADS). Fear of movement (FactS-HF 15) was significantly, positively correlated with state anxiety (r= 0.38, p<.001) and depression (r= 0.28, p<.001) (STADI) and trait anxiety (r= 0.51, p<.001) and depression (r= 0.45, p<.001) (STADI). Finally, correlation between kinesiophobia (TSK-Heart) and general anxiety (HADS-A) was non-significant (r= 0.36, p=.224). Our findings show a connection between various types of DRA and a higher risk of psychopathology in CVD patients. While the underlying pathway cannot be seen from our results, multiple processes have been proposed in previous studies. We believe that regular DRA screening and development of disease-specific treatment may be beneficial for this patient population. However, more research is needed in order to understand this relationship as well as to assess the effectiveness of a disease-specific approach.Show less
