Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Depression in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Roles of Feelings of Safety and Rumination

The study aimed to examine the mechanism underlying the effect of basic psychological needs satisfaction (BPNs) on depression via feelings of safety or rumination in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-report questionnaires were distributed to 683 middle school students from Hubei province in China. Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyse the data. The results showed that basic psychological needs satisfaction exerted negative effects on adolescents’ depression in both a direct and an indirect way. In specific, basic psychological needs satisfaction not only directly reduced depression, but also indirectly reduced depression by the mediating role of feelings of safety, but not by rumination. Moreover, autonomy and relatedness, but not competence need satisfaction, indirectly reduced depression by the multiple mediating path from feelings of safety to rumination. The findings indicate satisfaction of basic psychological needs is important in increasing adolescents’ feelings of safety, reducing negative cognitions, and alleviating their depression level during the pandemic.