Predicting symptoms of anxiety and depression based on satisfying basic psychological needs

One of the most common mental disorders is anxiety disorders and depression. Therefore, recognizing the factors influencing their formation and continuity is very important. The present study aimed to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression according to satisfaction of basic psychological needs. 362 individuals (220 men, 142 women) selected from the University of Tehran using the convenience sampling method. The participants completed the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale (BNSG-S, Gagne 2003) and the Stress Depression Anxiety Scale (DASS, Lovibond & Lovibond 1995). The results indicate that satisfying the basic psychological needs had a negative correlation significantly with the symptoms of anxiety and depression (P<0.01). Linear regression analysis showed that satisfying psychological needs could predict 16% of the variance of the research variables. It can be concluded that satisfying psychological need is one of the determinants of psychological health, meanwhile playing a preventive role in a psychological disorder.