Turkish Version of Children’s Numeracy Interest Scale Links Parental Math Involvement

Children's numeracy interest, the affective pull that draws young children toward numbers and counting, has become an increasingly recognized component of early mathematical development. Yet in Türkiye, researchers lacked both a validated Turkish-language instrument for measuring this construct and any direct empirical test of how parental math involvement relates to it. A new study published in BMC Psychology addresses both gaps, adapting the Children's Numeracy Interest Scale into Turkish and then using the adapted measure to probe whether what parents do with math at home predicts how interested their preschool children are in numbers.

The research was organized into two studies. Study 1 concentrated on the Turkish adaptation itself. The author evaluated the psychometric properties of the translated scale using exploratory factor analysis, which searches for underlying structure in the responses, and confirmatory factor analysis, which tests whether a predefined structure fits an independent set of data.

The results supported a one-factor structure, meaning the scale's items cohere around a single underlying dimension of numeracy interest rather than splitting into separate subdomains. The Turkish version also showed good reliability and acceptable model fit across standard indices, indicating that the instrument measures the construct consistently in its new language. Study 2 turned to the substantive question.

Parents of preschool children rated their own math involvement and their children's numeracy interest, and the proposed models were tested with structural equation modeling, a statistical framework that estimates relationships among observed and latent variables simultaneously. Relevant child and family characteristics were entered as control variables so that the association between parental involvement and children's interest could not simply be attributed to these background factors. The structural models pointed in a consistent direction.

Overall parental math involvement was positively associated with children's numeracy interest and emerged as a significant positive predictor in the structural model. The finding establishes a predictive association rather than a demonstrated causal effect; children's existing interest could also shape how often parents engage them with math, and the reported evidence cannot separate the two directions. A more fine-grained result emerged when the individual domains of parental math involvement were examined simultaneously in a single model.

Only the domain of Numbers and Operations remained a significant positive predictor of children's numeracy interest, suggesting that activities centered specifically on numbers and arithmetic may carry the strongest association with young children's interest in numeracy, at least when other domains are held constant in the same model. Among the control variables, child age was also a significant positive predictor, with older children in the preschool sample showing higher numeracy interest. The study, which the journal notes is an early-share version of peer-reviewed, accepted research carrying a permanent DOI, provides Turkish researchers and educators with their first validated instrument for this construct and offers preliminary evidence that the specific mathematical content parents introduce at home, particularly numbers and operations, tracks with how interested young children are in numeracy.

Subject of Research: Turkish adaptation of the children’s numeracy interest scale and its relationship with parental math involvement

Article Title: Turkish adaptation of the children’s numeracy interest scale and its relationship with parental math involvement

Article References: Karakuş Özkan, H. (2026). Turkish adaptation of the Children’s Numeracy Interest Scale and its relationship with parental math involvement. BMC Psychology, 14(1), Article 1411. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05423-3

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05423-3

Keywords: Turkish, adaptation, children, numeracy, interest, scale, relationship, parental, math, involvement, scientific research