The Use of Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Reducing Math Anxiety

ABSTRACT: Adolescent girls of average achievement were defined as math anxious if their achievement in mathematics was at least one year lower than their reading achievement. Three such groups of twelve each were given tutoring in mathematics, tutoring plus training in self-instruction intended to reduce anxiety and increase self-reinforcing verbalizations, and a third, no treatment group. While both tutoring and self-instruction training resulted in increased ranked preferences for math, achievement in mathematics increased more for the self-instruction group.