Links between Loneliness, Math Anxiety, and Academic Achievement in 15-Year-Old Adolescents: A Cross-National Latent Variable Analysis Using PISA 2022

There is mounting evidence on how psychosocial resources play a crucial role in students’ adjustment. Yet, research on the associations between loneliness, psychosocial resources, and objective measures of academic performance is just in the early stages. In this contribution, we examined the link between loneliness, math anxiety, and math achievement using PISA 2022 data with 15-year-old adolescents (N = 613,755). We hypothesized and tested a model in which math anxiety mediates the relationship between loneliness and math achievement. Structural Equation Models with cluster-robust standard errors were used to test our hypothesized model. Several covariates (e.g., gender, personality traits, socioeconomic status) were included in the analysis. Loneliness and math anxiety were formulated as latent variables, while math achievement was measured through a single objective indicator. The model fitted the data well. Results showed that (a) loneliness positively affected math anxiety, and the latter negatively affected math achievement; (b) constraining the direct effect of loneliness to math achievement to be zero did not worsen the model fit significantly; (c) Monte Carlo analysis showed that the indirect effect was significant. This analysis provides a first attempt to empirically unravel the relationship between two underestimated social aspects (loneliness and math anxiety) and their impact on math achievement, thus offering potential insights for future longitudinal studies and practical interventions at school. In particular, potential interventions could aim to enable teachers to specifically address the negative influences of loneliness and math anxiety on students’ education.