Manifestações subjacentes da ansiedade matemática no sistema nervoso autônomo: uma análise da variabilidade da frequência cardíaca, desempenho matemático e função executiva em crianças escolares

Abstract

Mathematical anxiety (AM) is one of the most studied emotional interferences in the mathematical reasoning process, being able to be associated to the deficits in the inhibitory control, compromising the performance during childhood. Investigating the physiological mechanisms of MA at the beginning of formal schooling may contribute to their identification and intervention strategies by teachers / researchers, enabling their management in school and non-school contexts. We investigated the HRV as a physiological parameter associated with the level of Mathematical Anxiety in children, while undergoing conditions of rest, mathematical performance test and inhibitory control test, analyzing their mathematical performances and executive functions. The study was conducted with 99 children of both sexes, aged 9 to 12 years, classified for Mathematical Anxiety and controlled for general anxiety. We identified for the first time an association of HRV non-linear results with the level of Mathematical Anxiety in children. At the moment that the mathematical tasks responded, children with greater AM presented reduction of vagal tone and significant reductions in approximate entropy (ApEn) and Sample Entropy (SampEn) - nonlinear measures that measure the regularity and complexity of systems. These relationships were not associated with general anxiety, indicating if it is an event moderated by Mathematical Anxiety. Our findings suggest that children with high AM may have a stress response associated with reduced HRV complexity, presenting patterns that may contribute to their characterization from the autonomic nervous system. In addition, the mediation models indicated a reciprocal relationship between Mathematical Anxiety and Mathematical Performance in children, when mediated by inhibitory control. Our research joins the efforts that have been undertaken in the area of Mathematics Education, especially those related to the study of emotional and cognitive aspects and their impacts on learning. We encourage the area to implement a systemic perspective of research and analysis that integrates behavioral, cognitive and physiological aspects.