Negative changes in emotional well-being and motivation in Russian adolescents between 1999 and 2020 / Cambios negativos en el bienestar emocional y la motivación en adolescentes rusos entre 1999 y 2020

Cultura y Educacion. 2024. Vol. 36. No. 4. P. 915–941.

Sychev O., Sheldon K.

Studies in the U.S., the UK, Canada, and Australia show cohort increases in ill-being among adolescents in recent decades (Keyes et al., 2019; Patalay & Gage, 2019; Pitchforth et al., 2019; Sawyer et al., 2018; Twenge, 2020) and this is especially true for girls (Twenge, Joiner et al., 2018). The present study compared two Russian adolescent samples on both positive and negative emotions, via data collected in 1999 and in January 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic). The results show that joy was much lower, and anger and anxiety were much higher, in the 2020 cohort. Corresponding declines in autonomous motivation, perceived academic control, and positive relationships partly explained the decreases in adolescent emotional well-being. Girls were most negatively impacted across the two decades. Discussion speculates on possible educational explanations for the motivational and thus emotional declines.

Keywords: гендерные различия, anxiety, психологическое благополучие, образовательные реформы, автономная мотивация, позитивные эмоции, негативные эмоции, educational reforms, emotional well-being, adolescents, positive emotions, эмоциональное благополучие, negative emotions, contemporary Russian adolescents, joy, psychological well-being