Associations Between Digital Activity and Well-Being at School Among Russian and Serbian Adolescents

Abstract: Aim: This study investigates the relationship between digital activity, social media addiction, academic motivation, and well-being among middle school students in Serbia and Russia. Methods: One thousand ninety-three adolescents (mean age: 13.32 years (SD=0.47); 42% male, 58% female) participated in an online survey assessing screentime, social media addiction, school motivation, academic performance, and subjective well-being. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for comparative analysis, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient assessed associations between variables, and regression analysis examined predictors of school well-being. Results: The findings indicate that screentime is positively correlated with social media addiction and negatively associated with school satisfaction. Additionally, social media addiction is a significant negative predictor of academic performance and life satisfaction. However, intrinsic academic motivation moderates these effects, demonstrating a protective role by mitigating the adverse outcomes of excessive digital activity. Serbian students exhibited higher academic achievement and life satisfaction, while Russian students reported higher academic motivation and school satisfaction. Conclusion: Our results suggest that digital activity, particularly excessive screentime and social media use, can negatively impact school engagement and well-being unless moderated by intrinsic academic motivation. These findings highlight the importance of fostering motivation-driven digital engagement to optimize adolescent educational and psychological outcomes.