SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION AND MINDFULNESS TECHNIQUES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE IBADAN METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

Abstract

Mathematics anxiety, an intense emotional feeling of apprehension that manifests when one engages in mathematical tasks often results in low achievement in mathematics. Evidence from literature has shown that secondary school students in the Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria, exhibit mathematics anxiety. Previous studies focused more on predictors of mathematics anxiety than on interventions. This study, therefore, was designed to investigate the effects of Mindfulness Technique (MT) and Systematic Desensitisation (SD) in the management of mathematics anxiety among secondary school students in the Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. The moderating effects of gender and mathematics self-efficacy were also determined. The study was anchored to Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory, while the pretest- posttest control group design with a 3x2x3 factorial matrix was adopted. The multistage sampling procedure was used. The simple random sampling technique was used to select three (Ibadan North East, Ibadan North and Ibadan South East) out the five Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the Ibadan Metropolis. Three schools (one from each LGA) were randomly selected. The students in the selected schools were screened with Dave Wood Mathematics Anxiety Scale (α=.74) and those who scored 50 points benchmark and above were selected and assigned to MT (35), SD (36) and control (32) groups. The instruments used were Betz Mathematics Anxiety (α=.89),Betz and Hackett Mathematics Efficacy(α = 0.81) scales, and instructional guides. The intervention lasted eight weeks. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Analysis of covariance and Scheffe Post-hoc test at 0.05 level of significance. The majority (65.0%) of the participants were female. There was a significant main effect of treatment on mathematics anxiety (F(2;85) = 3.77; partialῆ2 = 0.08). The participants in the MT had the least mean score (36.28) on mathematics anxiety, followed by those with SD (42.27) and the control (48.56) groups. There was a significant main effect of mathematics self-efficacy on mathematics anxiety (F(2;85) = 4.81; partial ῆ2 = 0.10).The participants with high mathematics self-efficacy had the least mathematics anxiety mean score (32.33), followed by those in the moderate (43.50) and low (44.53) mathematics self-efficacy groups. There was a significant interaction effect of treatment and mathematics self-efficacy on mathematics anxiety (F(4;85)= 4.08; partialῆ2 = 0.16) in favour of the participants with high mathematics self-efficacy (32.33) in the MT group. There was no significant main effect of gender on mathematics anxiety. The two-way interaction effect of treatment and gender as well as the three-way interaction effect were not significant. Mindfulness and systematic desensitisation techniques reduced mathematics anxiety of the secondary students, in the Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria with special attention to mathematics self-efficacy. Educational and counselling psychologists should utilise these interventions to manage mathematics anxiety among the public secondary school students.