Exploring the mediating role of academic anxiety in mathematics and reading performance among boys and girls: A comprehensive study of Italian fifth graders

There is a long-standing debate regarding the magnitude of gender differences in academic achievement. Using data from a robust and nationally representative sample of 146,227 Italian-fifth-graders, we investigated whether academic anxiety is related to gender differences in mathematics and reading achievement. Across six independent samples, boys had higher performance in mathematics ( d s = −0.13 to −0.21) and girls had higher performance in reading ( d s = 0.07 to 0.21) and higher test anxiety ( d s = 0.30 to 0.37). Meta-analytic procedures indicated these patterns were stable across samples. Path analyses within and across samples suggested about one-third of the academic gender gaps can be accounted for by test anxiety. In particular, with control of test anxiety girls' advantage in reading achievement increased, while boys' advantage in mathematics decreased. The current study provides an extensive exploration of how test anxiety potentially influences gender differences in mathematics and reading achievement. Test anxiety appears to lower girls' performance on achievement tests and thus underestimating their advantages in reading and overestimating boys' advantages in mathematics. One implication is that efforts to reduce test anxiety will enhance performance on achievement tests, especially for test-anxious girls, and through this provide more accurate estimates of academic competencies. • Secondary data analyses on 146,227 Italian 5th graders on a national assessment. • Girls show higher academic anxiety, better reading, but lower math performance. • Academic anxiety partly explains why boys outperform girls in mathematics. • Academic anxiety reduces female advantages in reading achievement.