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Changes in motivation and emotional well-being in Russian schoolchildren from 1999 to 2020
Studies in the U.S., the UK and Canada show cohort decreases in well-being among adolescents in recent decades (Keyes et al., 2019; Pitchforth et al., 2019; Sawyer et al., 2018; Twenge, 2020; Twenge et al., 2018). Its generalizability to other, non-Western countries has not been established yet, and the reasons for this phenomenon are complex and usually are ascribed to social media rise. The present study compared two Russian adolescent samples, via data collected in 1999 and in January 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and efforts have been made to understand the phenomenon of adolescent well-being through their autonomous motivation, perceived control and the educational context behind them. The results show that emotional well-being was much lower in 2020, as were autonomous motivation, perceived academic control, and positive relationship variables, which partly explained the decreases in adolescent well-being. Discussion speculates on possible educational-level explanations for the findings.