Intervention Strategies for Mathematical Anxiety in K-12 Students: A Systematic Review of the Past Decade (2016–2025)

Abstract

Mathematics anxiety affects a substantial proportion of K–12 students globally and negatively impacts both achievement and long-term participation in STEM fields. This systematic review synthesizes empirical intervention studies published between January 2016 and March 2025, drawing on 42 peer-reviewed studies identified through structured searches of Google Scholar, ERIC, and CNKI. Interventions were classified into four categories: cognitive strategies (e.g., growth mindset training, cognitive reappraisal), affective strategies (e.g., expressive writing, mindfulness), environmental/technological strategies (e.g., gamification, adaptive learning platforms), and combined approaches. Combined interventions integrating skill instruction with anxiety management demonstrated the strongest effects (g = −1.09; Liu et al., 2025), followed by anxiety-oriented (g = −0.71) and skills-oriented approaches (g = −0.32; Codding et al., 2023). Among discrete strategies, expressive writing showed particular efficacy for high-anxiety students in testing contexts (Ramirez & Beilock, 2011), though effectiveness is moderated by students’ mathematics self-concept (Scheibe et al., 2025). Growth mindset interventions yielded consistent moderate effects (d ≈ 0.20–0.25; Yeager et al., 2019). Technological interventions represent the fastest-growing domain but lack longitudinal data. Key moderating factors include grade level, initial anxiety severity, and intervention duration. Findings support multimodal, individually tailored intervention frameworks and highlight the need for long-term follow-up studies, particularly in non-Western contexts.