Learning Motivation Features in Socially Vulnerable Families Adolescents in their Basic Emotions Context

Abstract

The relevance of this study is determined by the growing number of adolescents raised in socially vulnerable families (e.g., internally displaced families, combatant’s families, households affected by traumatic experiences, violence, or substance dependence). Such contexts often intensify emotional strain, undermine psychological resources, and create additional risks for school disengagement. In contemporary educational psychology, academic motivation is increasingly viewed not only as a driver of learning outcomes but also as adolescents’ socio-emotional adaptation and well-being marker. Against this background, the interplay between adolescents’ basic emotions and their academic motivation becomes a particularly important research and applied issue, especially when the family environment is chronically stressful and unstable. The aim of the article is to examine academic motivation in adolescents from socially vulnerable families in relation to the intensity of their basic emotions, as well as to identify the specific patterns of these associations through a comparative design with a control group. The study involved 155 adolescents aged 11–15 years. The experimental group consisted of 73 participants whose families met the criteria of social vulnerability according to the registry of the charitable organization “Trohy vohnyu,” while the control group included 82 adolescents whose families were not categorized as socially vulnerable and were not registered in relevant institutions. The emotional domain was assessed using Izard’s Differential Emotions Scale (adapted by A. Leonov and M. Kapitsa) and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE; adapted by V. Olefir, V. Bosniuk, and K. Malofeikina). Academic motivation was measured with the School Motivation Questionnaire (adapted by M. Lemak and V. Petryshche) and a modified idiographic “Ladder” technique that captured adolescents’ subjective evaluations of their school achievement in the past, present, and future. The latter instrument motivational meaning was operationalized through the academic success perceived trajectory and the degree of optimism regarding future learning. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, group comparisons using the Mann–Whitney U test, and Spearman rank correlations to detect relationships between emotional and motivational indicators. The findings demonstrate that adolescents from socially vulnerable families show a significantly lower level of school motivation and a less positive attitude toward themselves as students. They also tend to evaluate their academic success less favorably across temporal perspectives and exhibit a more pessimistic orientation toward future schooling compared to their peers from the control group. Regarding emotional functioning, the socially vulnerable group is characterized by a more pronounced intensity of several negative basic emotions and by a more negative affective balance, reflected in lower positive experiences and higher negative experiences. Importantly, the correlation structure between basic emotions and motivational indices differs between the groups. Among socially vulnerable adolescents, the emotional–motivational links are less coherent and more fragmented, with several associations being predominantly inverse. Such a pattern may indicate a disruption or partial disintegration of emotion–motivation regulation under chronic social stress conditions. In contrast, the control group demonstrates a more predictable and integrated relatioships configuration between emotional experiences and motivational indicators, which may reflect more stable self-regulation mechanisms supported by relatively favorable social conditions. Overall, the results support the study hypothesis that academic motivation is significantly related to adolescents’ current emotional states and that the family’s social vulnerability moderates both motivation and the configuration level of emotion–motivation associations. The practical implications of the study involve targeted psychological and educational interventions development aimed at strengthening adolescents’ internal academic motivation, improving emotional stability, and supporting a more optimistic academic future perspective in socially vulnerable populations. These findings may be used in school-based psychological services, psychosocial support programs, and preventive initiatives addressing educational risks in families under chronic adversity.