Exploring the relationships between Reading, Maths, Attention, and Anxiety: A longitudinal twin study.

This study will examine longitudinal directional associations between reading and maths, inattention, general anxiety, and mathematics anxiety across middle childhood using data from the Western Reserve Reading and Math Project (WRRMP). A two-step modelling approach will be employed. In Step 1, directional effects among reading, maths, inattention, general anxiety, and maths anxiety will be tested using a longitudinal structural equation modelling framework. Autoregressive paths and cross-lagged paths will be estimated to examine whether earlier levels of academic ability and inattention predict subsequent changes in anxiety. In Step 2, a partial mediation model will be tested to examine whether inattention partially mediates the longitudinal associations between reading and maths and later anxiety (general and mathematics anxiety). Direct paths between academic ability and anxiety will be retained. All models will be estimated using structural equation modelling with full information maximum likelihood to account for missing data.