数学差，怪“父母数学焦虑”？

If the thought of a math test makes you break out in a cold sweat, Mom or Dad may be partly to blame.

如果想到数学测验会让你出一身冷汗，你的爸妈可能要承担些责任。

The researchers believe the link between parents’math anxiety and children’s math performance stems more from math attitudes than genetics.

研究者们认为，父母的“数学焦虑”对子女数学成绩的影响，更多地是由于（畏惧数学的）态度在起作用，而非遗传作用。

“Although it is possible that there is a genetic component to math anxiety,” the researchers wrote, “the fact that parents’ math anxiety negatively affected children only when they frequently helped them with math homework points to the need for interventions focused on both decreasing parents’ math anxiety and scaffolding their skills in homework help.”

“尽管‘数学焦虑’可能在一定程度上受到遗传因素的影响，”研究者们写道，“然而事实上，我们的研究发现，只有当父母频繁地辅导子女数学功课时，才会把自身的‘数学焦虑’传染到子女身上。因此不仅应该关注如何降低‘父母的数学焦虑’，还应该关注如何提高父母辅导功课的技巧。”

These tools might include math books, computer and traditional board games, or Internet apps that “allow parents to interact with their children around math in positive ways,” the researchers wrote.

研究者们提出了一些建议，比如借助数学参考书、电脑和桌面游戏、以及网络应用，父母可以更积极地与子女互动，以利于数学学习。

（中国日报网英语点津  Julie 编辑）