Computer Anxiety in Primary Schoolchildren and University Students

Abstract

A group of first‐year psychology students and a group of 9 year‐old children of comparable intelligence completed self‐report inventories measuring computer anxiety (CA), mathematics anxiety (MA), trait anxiety (TA) and computer experience (CE). The contributions of age, sex, TA and CE to scores on CA and MA were investigated in multivariate and univariate analyses of covariance. The children were less anxious about computers than the students. The children had higher CE scores than the students, but this difference did not account for the students' higher levels of CA. MA was related to TA and, for students only, MA was higher for females. The results were interpreted as encouraging indications of the absence of a strong link between CA and MA, with the former showing signs of reduction as early experience with computers becomes the norm.