Review of Contributions to the Russian Child Well-Being Index: Focus on Subjective Well-Being Indicators

BACKGROUND: In Russia, there is a demand for evaluation of children’s well-being, including subjective well-being, at the national and regional levels. To implement such an evaluation system, it is necessary to develop a Russian Child Well-Being Index (CWBI), which includes indicators of both objective and subjective wellbeing in several domains. One can rely on various national data sources that can be partially integrated into the CWBI, as well as the application of the UNICEF/ Innocenti methodology for children’s well-being evaluation and new developments by Russian research teams. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the Russian experience in developing approaches to large-scale and multidimensional evaluation of children’s well-being (with an emphasis on subjective well-being) and to provide recommendations for development of the national Children’s Well-Being Index (CWBI). DESIGN: Scoping review of the methodology and results of the studies that can inform the Russian task force on CWBI development. RESULTS: Like most international models of subjective well-being, a Russian CWBI will be based on various aspects of the socio-ecological approach. The structure of domains vary but is generally compatible with the UNICEF/Innocenti model. The tools used by Russian researchers have included standardized psychometric techniques (as an independent tool and as a control of various types of validity); questionnaires specially designed to operationalize certain domains of well-being; and qualitative methods applied to small samples of children, such as focus groups, and creative and play-based methods. Work on the development of the CWBI (including the subjective well-being indicators) has been most actively performed in relation to children in state care; therefore, many of the tools have been designed to address the particular characteristics of this target group. CONCLUSION: Recommendations for development of the national Children’s Well-Being Index (CWBI) are given, including both the index design and organizational/ethical considerations.