Health Psychology Report (Aug 2023)
Interpersonal differences in stress, coping, and satisfaction with life in the context of individual profiles of satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs
Abstract
Background Basic psychological need theory has identified three basic needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Need satisfaction is necessary for development and well-being, while need frustration can lead to maladaptive functioning. The study investi-gated the significance of individual profiles of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration in experiencing stress, coping, and satisfaction with life. Participants and procedure Participants (N = 622, Mage = 22.22 ± 4.30) completed the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale, Per-ceived Stress Scale, Stress Appraisal Questionnaire, COPE Inventory, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. We performed explor-atory factor analysis to identify coping styles, latent profile analysis to distinguish groups with specific need profiles, and MANOVA to demonstrate differences between these groups. Results Five coping styles were identified: (1) problem-focused, (2) emotion-focused, (3) meaning-focused, (4) escape-avoidance, and (5) religious. The following groups of individuals characterized by specific profiles of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration were distinguished: (1) mainly low satisfaction and high frustration of relatedness; (2) high satisfaction and low frustration of all basic needs; (3) low satisfaction and high frustration of all basic needs; (4) average satisfaction and frustration of all basic needs; (5) mainly low satisfaction and high frustration of competence. These groups significantly differ in perceived stress, coping styles, and life satisfaction. Conclusions Individuals with profile 3 were the most stressed and tend to use escape-avoidance coping style. Participants with profile 2 coped using a problem-focused style and had higher life satisfaction. These findings indicate that a person-centered ap-proach leads to a better understanding of experiencing stress and coping.
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