There is growing evidence that math anxiety is prevalent among Chinese high school students. The current study developed a Chinese version of the Short Math Anxiety Rating Scale (i.e., CH-sMARS) and examined its structural validity, construct validity, criterion validity, internal reliability, and 3-month-test-retest reliability. We recruited 696 and 329 high school students at Time 1 (April, 2020) and Time 2 (July, 2020), respectively, from two high schools in China. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a 16-item, three-factor structure. The factors were consistent with those in the original Short Math Anxiety Rating Scale (sMARS) – Mathematics Test Anxiety, Numerical Task Anxiety, and Mathematics Course Anxiety. Nine items were removed from the sMARS due to low factor loading across all three factors. The 16-item scale demonstrated good reliability and validity across all tests. The CH-sMARS offers a useful tool for measuring the multidimensional nature of math anxiety among Chinese high school students. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.