Basic Psychological Needs in University Students: The Influence of ADHD and Internalizing Symptoms

Bouma, Jeldau (2025) Basic Psychological Needs in University Students: The Influence of ADHD and Internalizing Symptoms. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

Basic psychological needs (BPN), such as autonomy, competence, and relatedness, are suggested to influence well-being. University students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face strenuous academic demands, affecting their BPN, which may negatively impact academic performance and well-being. In the present study, psychology students at the University of Groningen (n = 85) completed several questionnaires on ADHD symptoms, psychological need satisfaction/frustration, and internalizing symptoms. Group comparison and hierarchical regression analyses examined ADHD’s relationship with BPN. Results showed that higher ADHD symptomatology was significantly associated with greater frustration across all three psychological needs. However, of the three need satisfactions, only competence satisfaction was significantly lower in students with higher ADHD symptoms. Additionally, only autonomy satisfaction was significantly associated with biological sex, with women reporting higher autonomy satisfaction. Furthermore, internalizing symptoms significantly explained variance in differences in autonomy frustration, relatedness frustration, competence frustration, and competence satisfaction, suggesting that higher frustration and lower satisfaction of these needs in students with high ADHD symptomatology is primarily due to internalizing symptoms. Moreover, biological sex accounted for additional variance in relatedness and competence frustration, suggesting that women with high ADHD symptoms report higher frustration in these needs, though this finding was not significant. However, ADHD symptoms did not uniquely predict BPN outcomes once accounted for internalizing symptoms and biological sex. These findings indicate that internalizing symptoms largely influence the association between ADHD symptomatology and several BPN, while biological sex plays a smaller but notable role. Keywords: ADHD, basic psychological needs, biological sex, internalizing symptoms

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Garcia Pimenta, M. and Fuermaier, A.B.M.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2025 14:17
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2025 14:17
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4748

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