Arithmetic and reading skills mediate the link between math and reading anxiety and word problem solving

Children’s ability to solve arithmetic word problems (AWP), which require integrating mathematical and linguistic information, has been associated with academic achievement and future life outcomes. AWPs demand numerical cognition, literacy skills, and emotional factors such as math anxiety (MA) and reading anxiety (RA) may further be related to performance by disrupting these foundational abilities. This study examined the pathways through which MA and RA are associated with AWP performance among 717 third-grade students, using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. MA showed negative associations with AWP performance, both directly and indirectly via reduced arithmetic fact fluency. In contrast, RA was not directly associated with AWP performance but showed significant indirect association via reading fluency, reading comprehension, and a serial path from reading fluency to comprehension. These findings highlight the differential pathways through which MA and RA relate to AWP solving, with arithmetic and reading-related skills serving as key mediators. Notably, while MA showed both direct and indirect associations, RA was related to performance exclusively through indirect reading-related skill pathways. Results underscore the multi-componential nature of AWP solving mechanisms and support a holistic view that considers numeric, linguistic, and emotional factors concurrently.