Distinct Classes of Statistical Anxiety: Latent Profile and Network Psychometrics Analysis of University Students

Figures & data

Table 1 Fit Index of the Latent Profile Models of Statistical Anxiety in University Students (n = 1607)

Class Tested	LL	AIC	BIC	aBIC	Entropy	LMR (p value)	BLRT (p value)	Class Probability
1	−15,447.16	30,918.33	30,984.76	30,946.64
2	−396.35	23,830.02	23,935.20	23,874.84	0.948	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.55,0.45
3	−10,126.34	20,304.27	20,448.20	20,365.60	0.963	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.50,0.41,0.09
4	−8,881.62	17,829.24	18,011.92	17,907.08	0.962	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.38,0.17,0.10,0.35
5	−8,248.42	16,576.84	16,798.27	16,671.19	0.970	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.20,0.33,0.09,0.03,0.35
6	−7,650.67	15,395.34	15,655.52	15,506.21	0.963	0.026	< 0.001	0.15,0.30,0.33,0.09,0.10,0.03

Abbreviations: LL, likelihood ratio Chi-squared test; AIC, Akaike information criterion; BIC, Bayesian information criterion; aBIC, adjusted Bayesian information criterion; LMR, Lo-Mendell-Rubin (LMR) likelihood ratio test; BLRT, bootstrapped likelihood ratio test. Boldface indicates the selected model.

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of Three Latent Classes of University Students for Each Dimension of Statistical Anxiety (n = 1607)

	Worth of Statistics	Computation Self-Concept	Fear of Statistics Teachers	Test and Class Anxiety	Interpretation Anxiety	Fear of Asking for Help
Class 1 (50%)	1.71 ± 0.44	1.75 ± 0.47	1.66 ± 0.48	2.18 ± 0.66	2.03 ± 0.52	1.94 ± 0.56
Class 2 (41%)	2.87 ± 0.40	2.98 ± 0.43	2.83 ± 0.48	3.18 ± 0.52	2.98 ± 0.41	2.94 ± 0.48
Class 3 (9%)	4.123 ± 0.51	4.28 ± 0.49	4.14 ± 0.56	4.31 ± 0.49	4.05 ± 0.58	4.09 ± 0.64

Notes: The values in parentheses indicate the proportion of each group to the total.

Figure 1 Line graph of the mean values of the three latent classes of university students for each dimension of statistical anxiety.

Table 3 Correlation Analysis of Variables Related to Statistical Anxiety and the Learning Performance of University Students in Different Latent Classes

Group	Variables	M ± SD	Statistical Anxiety	Learning Engagement	Statistics Scores	Statistical Learning Self-Efficacy
Total sample (n = 1607)	1	2.53 ± 0.80	–	−0.22***	−0.22***	−0.45***
	2	3.96 ± 1.05		–	0.14***	0.38***
	3	82.33 ± 10.96			–	0.21***
	4	2.58 ± 0.91				–
Mild test anxiety (n = 802)	1	1.88 ± 0.38	–	−0.34***	−0.36***	−0.58***
	2	4.07 ± 1.145		–	0.18***	0.43***
	3	83.39 ± 10.94			–	0.25***
	4	2.78 ± 1.01				–
Moderate test anxiety (n = 662)	1	2.96 ± 0.25	–	−0.01	−0.08	−0.02
	2	3.93 ± 0.84		–	0.05	0.26***
	3	81.21 ± 10.85			–	0.11
	4	2.54 ± 0.68				–
Severe statistical anxiety (n = 143)	1	4.17 ± 0.42	–	0.001	0.35**	−0.45***
	2	3.49 ± 1.28		–	−0.04	0.113
	3	79.81 ± 10.85			–	0.01
	4	1.67 ± 0.62				–

Note: **p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001.

Figure 2 Overall network structure of the statistical anxiety of university students with mild test anxiety.

Notes: The mild test anxiety network formed by pairwise correlations of the 51 items in the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale based on the responses from students with the mild test anxiety score. Each node in the network represents an item on the statistical anxiety scale. Connections between nodes represents correlations between items. The thick line indicates that the correlation coefficient is close to 1.0, and the thin line indicates that the correlation coefficient is close to 0. All the lines are green, indicating that all the correlations are positive. The right side of the figure shows the core project term represented by each node, for example, the core term for STAR25 is no_math.

Figure 3 Overall network structure of the statistical anxiety of university students with moderate test anxiety.

Notes: The moderate test anxiety network formed by pairwise correlations of the 51 items in the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale based on the responses from students with the moderate test anxiety score. Each node in the network represents an item on the statistical anxiety scale. Connections between nodes represents correlations between items. The thick line indicates that the correlation coefficient is close to 1.0, and the thin line indicates that the correlation coefficient is close to 0. All the lines are green, indicating that all the correlations are positive. The right side of the figure shows the core project term represented by each node, for example, the core term for STAR25 is no_math.

Figure 4 Overall network structure of the statistical anxiety of university students with severe statistical anxiety.

Notes: The severe statistical anxiety network formed by pairwise correlations of the 51 items in the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale based on the responses from students with the severe statistical anxiety score. Each node in the network represents an item on the statistical anxiety scale. Connections between nodes represents correlations between items. The thick line indicates that the correlation coefficient is close to 1.0, and the thin line indicates that the correlation coefficient is close to 0. All the lines are green, indicating that all the correlations are positive. The right side of the figure shows the core project term represented by each node, for example, the core term for STAR25 is no_math.

Table 4 Top Five Items for the Three Anxiety Network Structural Centrality Analysis Indicators

Item Label	Betweenness	Item Label	Closeness	Item Label	Strength
Mild test anxiety group
STARS49	62	STARS38	0.002836914	STARS49	7.118933
STARS10	57	STARS49	0.002834139	STARS38	6.46752
STARS38	54	STARS51	0.002722438	STARS51	6.194759
STARS6	46	STARS25	0.002709462	STARS27	6.03692
STARS19	39	STARS27	0.002683022	STARS41	5.801865
Moderate test anxiety group
STARS1	58	STARS38	0.002232235	STARS38	5.168306
STARS5	56	STARS1	0.002128969	STARS5	4.548006
STARS38	54	STARS5	0.002090389	STARS1	4.309747
STARS26	41	STARS37	0.002066185	STARS37	4.190236
STARS42	38	STARS30	0.002003515	STARS50	4.176545
Severe statistical anxiety group
STARS33	16	STARS22	0.008943975	STARS44	23.98876
STARS22	13	STARS44	0.008926174	STARS5	23.94434
STARS11	11	STARS21	0.008924219	STARS20	23.78059
STARS5	11	STARS14	0.008886958	STARS7	23.71977
STARS17	11	STARS11	0.008878077	STARS21	23.68614

Notes: STARS, The Statistical Anxiety Scale. The number following STARS corresponds to the item on the Statistical Anxiety Scale.

Figure 5 Summary of the structural centrality analysis indicators for the three anxiety networks.