Thwarted Needs and Psychological Inflexibility Predicting Psychological Distress in University Students

Year 2022, Volume: 12 Issue: 66, 513 - 528, 15.09.2022

Numan Turan

Abstract

Self-determination theory proposes that thwarted autonomy, competence, and relatedness are associated with an inflexible style of coping and leads to mental health concerns. The present research aims to examine psychological inflexibility (PI) – a construct of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – as a mediator in the relationship between the thwarted needs and psychological distress in college students. Self-report instruments in a cross-sectional design were utilized to collect data from a sample of Turkish college students (N= 223, Mage= 21.68; SDage = 4.31) during the lock-down in Turkey. The present research utilized structural equation modelling (SEM) in testing the mediating role of PI in the relationship between thwarted needs and psychological distress (anxiety and depression symptoms). Thwarted autonomy, competence and relatedness had medium correlation with psychological distress. The SEM results showed that PI mediated the relationship of thwarted competence and relatedness with psychological distress while PI did not mediate the relationship between thwarted autonomy and distress. PI can be used to mitigate the negative influences of thwarted needs on psychological distress. Potential cultural differences in the relationship of thwarted needs with psychological distress were discussed.

Keywords

Self-Determination, Inflexibility, Anxiety, Depression, College Students

References

• American College Health Association. (2019). Publications and Reports: ACHA-NCHA II Reference Group Executive Summary, Spring 2019. https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHA-II_SPRING_2019_US_REFERENCE_GROUP_EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf
• Arnett, J. J. (2015). College students as emerging adults: The developmental implications of the college context. Emerging Adulthood, 4(3), 219–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696815587422
• Auerbach, R. P., Mortier, P., Bruffaerts, R., Alonso, J., Benjet, C., Cuijpers, P., Demyttenaere, K., Ebert, D. D., Green, J. G., Hasking, P., Murray, E., Nock, M. K., Pinder-Amaker, S., Sampson, N. A., Stein, D. J., Vilagut, G., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Kessler, R. C. (2018). WHO world mental health surveys international college student project: Prevalence and distribution of mental disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(7), 623–638. https://doi.org/10.1037/ABN0000362
• Bartholomew, K. J., Ntoumanis, N., Ryan, R. M., & Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C. (2011). Psychological need thwarting in the sport context: Assessing the darker side of athletic experience. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 33(1), 75–102. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.33.1.75
• Beck, R., Taylor, C., & Robbins, M. (2003). MIssing home: Sociotropy and autonomy and their relationship to psychological distress and homesickness in college freshmen. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 16(2), 155–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/1061580021000056979
• Benita, M., Benish-Weisman, M., Matos, L., & Torres, C. (2020). Integrative and suppressive emotion regulation differentially predict well-being through basic need satisfaction and frustration: A test of three countries. Motivation and Emotion, 44(1), 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09781-x
• Bond, F. W., Hayes, S. C., Baer, R. A., Carpenter, K. M., Guenole, N., Orcutt, H. K., Waltz, T., & Zettle, R. D. (2011). Preliminary psychometric properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II: A revised measure of psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance. Behavior Therapy, 42(4), 676–688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2011.03.007
• Bond, F. W., Hayes, S. C., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2006). Psychological flexibility, ACT, and organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 8061, 25–54. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315808383-6
• Campbell, R., Boone, L., Vansteenkiste, M., & Soenens, B. (2018). Psychological need frustration as a transdiagnostic process in associations of self-critical perfectionism with depressive symptoms and eating pathology. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(10), 1775–1790. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22628
• Chawla, N., & Ostafin, B. (2007). Experiential avoidance as a functional dimensional approach to psychopathology: An empirical review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63(9), 871–890. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20400
• Chen, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Beyers, W., Boone, L., Deci, E. L., Van der Kaap-Deeder, J., Duriez, B., Lens, W., Matos, L., Mouratidis, A., Ryan, R. M., Sheldon, K. M., Soenens, B., Van Petegem, S., & Verstuyf, J. (2015). Basic psychological need satisfaction, need frustration, and need strength across four cultures. Motivation and Emotion, 39(2), 216–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-014-9450-1
• Cherry, K. M., Hoeven, E. Vander, Patterson, T. S., & Lumley, M. N. (2021). Defining and measuring “psychological flexibility”: A narrative scoping review of diverse flexibility and rigidity constructs and perspectives. Clinical Psychology Review, 84, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2021.101973
• Ciarrochi, J., Bilich, L., & Godsell, C. (2010). Psychological flexibility as a mechanism of change in acceptance and commitment therapy. In R. A. Baer (Ed.), Assessing mindfulness and acceptance processes in clients: Illuminating the theory and practice of change. (pp. 51–76). New Harbinger Publications.
• Citlak, B., Leyendecker, B., Schölmerich, A., Driessen, R., & Harwood, R. L. (2008). Socialization goals among first- and second-generation migrant Turkish and German mothers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(1), 56–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025407084052
• Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (2019). Constructing Validity: New Developments in Creating Objective Measuring Instruments HHS Public Access. Psychol Assess, 31(12), 1412–1427. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000626
• Crum, A. J., Akinola, M., Martin, A., & Fath, S. (2017). The role of stress mindset in shaping cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses to challenging and threatening stress. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 30(4), 379–395. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1275585
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. Springer Science+Business Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7
• Demirci, I., & Ekşi, H. (2018). Don’t Bother Your Pretty Little Head Otherwise You can’t Enjoy Life. ERPA 2018, 67–78.
• Doorley, J. D., Goodman, F. R., Kelso, K. C., & Kashdan, T. B. (2020). Psychological flexibility: What we know, what we do not know, and what we think we know. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 14(12), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12566
• Gaudreau, P., Carraro, N., & Miranda, D. (2012). From goal motivation to goal progress: the mediating role of coping in the Self-Concordance Model. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 25(5), 507–528. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.628015
• Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate Data Analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning EMEA.
• Hamza, C. A., Ewing, L., Heath, N. L., & Goldstein, A. L. (2021). When social isolation is nothing new: A longitudinal study psychological distress during COVID-19 among university students with and without preexisting mental health concerns. Correction to Hamza et al. (2020). Canadian Psychology, 62(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000260
• Hayes, S. C., Follette, V. M., & Linehan, M. M. (2004). Mindfulness and Acceptance Expanding the Cognitive-Behavioral Tradition. The Guildford Press.
• Hayes, S. C., & Gifford, E. V. (1997). The trouble with language: Experiential avoidance, rules, and the nature of verbal events. Psychological Science, 8(3), 170–173. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00405.x
• Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, process and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.06.2006
• Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K., Wilson, K. G., Bissett, R. T., Pistorello, J., Toarmino, D., Polusny, M. A., Dykstra, T. A., Batten, S. V., Bergan, J., Stewart, S. H., Zvolensky, M. J., Eifert, G. H., Bond, F. W., Forsyth, J. P., Karekla, M., & Mccurry, S. M. (2004). Measuring experiential avoidance: A preliminary test of a working model. Psychological Record, 54(4), 553–578. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395492
• Hayes, S. C., Wilson, K. G., Gifford, E. V., Follette, V. M., & Strosahl, K. (1996). Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(6), 1152–1168. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.64.6.1152
• Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
• Iwasaki, Y. (2003). Roles of leisure in coping with stress among university students: A repeated-assessment field study. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 16(1), 31–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/1061580021000057022
• Jao, N. C., Robinson, L. D., Kelly, P. J., Ciecierski, C. C., & Hitsman, B. (2018). Unhealthy behavior clustering and mental health status in United States college students. Journal of American College Health, 67(8), 790–800. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2018.1515744
• Kagitcibasi, C., & Ataca, B. (2005). Value of children and family change: A three-decade portrait from Turkey. Applied Psychology, 54(3), 317–337. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2005.00213.x
• Kashdan, T. B., Barrios, V., Forsyth, J. P., & Steger, M. F. (2006). Experiential avoidance as a generalized psychological vulnerability: Comparisons with coping and emotion regulation strategies. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(9), 1301–1320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.10.003
• Kashdan, T. B., & Rottenberg, J. (2010). Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(4), 865–878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.001
• Kingston, J., Clarke, S., & Remington, B. (2010). Experiential avoidance and problem behavior: A mediational analysis. Behavior Modification, 34(2), 145–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445510362575
• Kline, R. B. (2016). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, (4th ed.). Guilford Press.
• Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., & Löwe, B. (2009). An ultra-brief screening scale for anxiety and depression: The PHQ–4. Psychosomatics, 50(6), 613–621. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0033-3182(09)70864-3
• Kunst, L. E., Maas, J., Van Assen, M. A. L. M., Van der Heijden, W., & Bekker, M. H. J. (2019). Autonomy deficits as vulnerability for anxiety: evidence from two laboratory-based studies. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 32(3), 244–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2019.1580697
• Lee, J., Jeong, H. J., & Kim, S. (2021). Stress, anxiety, and depression among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic and their use of mental health services. Innovative Higher Education, 0123456789. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-021-09552-y
• Lischetzke, T., Schemer, L., In-Albon, T., Karbach, J., Könen, T., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2021). Coping under a COVID-19 lockdown: patterns of daily coping and individual differences in coping repertoires. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 35(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2021.1957848
• Masuda, A., Price, M., Anderson, P. L., & Wendell, J. W. (2010). Disordered eating-related cognition and psychological flexibility as predictors of psychological health among college students. Behavior Modification, 34(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445509351569
• Morris, M. C., Evans, L. D., Rao, U., & Garber, J. (2015). Executive function moderates the relation between coping and depressive symptoms. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 28(1), 31–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2014.925545
• O’Toole, M. S., Zachariae, R., & Mennin, D. S. (2017). Social anxiety and emotion regulation flexibility: considering emotion intensity and type as contextual factors. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 30(6), 716–724. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2017.1346792
• Roth, G., Vansteenkiste, M., & Ryan, R. M. (2019). Integrative emotion regulation: Process and development from a self-determination theory perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 31(3), 945–956. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419000403
• Rouse, P. C., Turner, P. J. F., Siddall, A. G., Schmid, J., Standage, M., & Bilzon, J. L. J. (2020). The interplay between psychological need satisfaction and psychological need frustration within a work context: A variable and person-oriented approach. Motivation and Emotion, 44(2), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09816-3
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000a). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000b). The Darker and Brighter Sides of Human Existence: Basic Psychological Needs as a Unifying Concept. Https://Doi.Org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_03, 11(4), 319–338. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_03
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. The Guildford Press.
• Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L., Grolnick, W. S., & Guardia, J. G. La. (2015). The Significance of Autonomy and Autonomy Support in Psychological Development and Psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental Psychopathology: Theory and Method (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 795–849). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470939383.CH20
• Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2016). Autonomy and autonomy disturbances in self-development and psychopathology: Research on motivation, attachment, and clinical process. Developmental Psychopathology, I, 1–54. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119125556.devpsy109
• Ryan, R. M., Soenens, B., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2019). Reflections on self-determination theory as an organizing framework for personality psychology: Interfaces, integrations, issues, and unfinished business. Journal of Personality, 87(1), 115–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12440
• Selvi, K., & Bozo, Ö. (2020). The dark side of bodybuilding: the role of bodybuilding activities in compensation of frustrated basic psychological needs. Motivation and Emotion, 44(2), 190–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09805-6
• Soper, D. (2021). Structural equation model sample size calculator. https://www.analyticscalculators.com/calculator.aspx?id=89
• Spinhoven, P., Drost, J., de Rooij, M., van Hemert, A. M., & Penninx, B. W. (2014). A longitudinal study of experiential avoidance in emotional disorders. Behavior Therapy, 45(6), 840–850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2014.07.001
• Sunar, D. (2002). Change and continuity in the Turkish middle class family Related papers Family and socializat ion in Turkey. In R. Liljestrom & E. Ozdalga (Eds.), Autonomy and dependence in family: Turkey and Sweden in critical perspective (pp. 219–240). Swedish Research Institute.
• Vansteenkiste, M., & Ryan, R. M. (2013). On psychological growth and vulnerability: Basic psychological need satisfaction and need frustration as a unifying principle. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 23(3), 263–280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032359
• Yavuz, F., Ulusoy, S., Iskin, M., Esen, F. B., Burhan, H. S., Karadere, M. E., & Yavuz, N. (2016). Turkish version of acceptance and action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II): A reliability and validity analysis in clinical and non-clinical samples. Klinik Psikofarmakoloji Bulteni, 26(4), 397–408. https://doi.org/10.5455/bcp.20160223124107