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A review of three recent studies on PsyPost proved that it’s more than just physical characteristics that parents are passing on to their kids. Instead, their academic struggles might be inherited, too.

Research has repeatedly shown that children get more from their parents than just their appearance. Personality traits come from a combination of genetics and environment, so someone could easily pass something like their stubbornness on to their kids. Someone who struggles with a certain skill would probably hope that wouldn’t be inherited as well, but all signs point to that being the case.

Research shows that parents who think they’re bad at math end up passing that along to their children.

The three studies were published in Psychological Science, Scientific Reports, and the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. All three established that cardinality is the most basic way to determine whether a child is grasping math concepts. This means that kids can actually understand what a number means. For example, if a researcher asked a child to put five blocks in a pile, they would actually be able to separate five.

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From there, scientists wanted to know what influences cardinality. By pairing kids with their parents for one study, they showed that the kids whose parents discussed quantities with them tended to have a better handle on math. This showed that it’s not just a child’s intelligence that influences how they perform academically, but also the environment they grow up in.

The third and final study proved just how important that environment is. Researchers were able to show that children who felt more anxious about math didn’t do as well with it, which isn’t exactly surprising. What was interesting was that the kids whose parents said they felt anxious about math actually exhibited that same anxiety.

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The smartest child in the world might still struggle with math if one of their parents feels anxious about it.

As PsyPost pointed out, it seems like both the child’s cognitive skills and their parents’ feelings about math work together to determine how they will feel about it and how they will perform in the subject themselves.

David C. Geary, a Curators’ Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri who was a part of all three studies, explained this further. “Children’s early home experiences with numbers, counting, and topics contributes to their math development,” he said. “Parents who avoid these activities place their children at risk of falling behind their peers.”

It’s totally understandable that a parent who doesn’t like math and even feels anxious about it would not want to do it very often with their children. But, just like reading to your kids helps them develop those skills, it’s important to practice math as well.

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Math isn’t meant to just be something kids learn at school.

It’s easy to think of certain subjects, like math, as being ones that kids just need to learn in school. And, honestly, with how differently math is being taught nowadays, there may be some truth in that. Still, it’s helpful for kids to get those foundational concepts in place at home.

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In a separate study published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers analyzed data to parents and math to determine how important it was for them to be involved in the subject. They found that parents being involved in their children’s math education usually led to better grades. Additionally, when kids feel like they have a whole community supporting their education, including their parents, they usually like learning more.

Education has the power to change people’s lives. It’s important for parents to support their kids throughout their time in school and to give them the tools they need to succeed. This means that a parent who’s anxious about math might have to do their best to overcome that fear so they can be there for their child.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.