Do basic psychological needs know borders? A self-determination theory analysis of Canadian and international students

Do basic psychological needs know borders? 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A self-determination theory analysis of Canadian and international students James Avery, Xiaoyan Fang, Anne Holding, Élodie Audet, Richard Koestner This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7124861/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Self-determination theory posits that there are three basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—that are essential for optimal psychological functioning across cultures and contexts. While past research has consistently demonstrated that satisfying these needs predicts better mental health in diverse countries, less is known about whether this relationship holds for individuals who have relocated to a foreign country. The present study examined whether the satisfaction of each need predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms in students at a large Canadian university, and whether this association was moderated by students’ sojourner status (international vs. Canadian) and self-reported ethnicity (White vs. Asian). We pooled data from six longitudinal studies conducted between 2014 and 2019 to ensure a large sample size. Results from a hierarchical linear regression demonstrated that the satisfaction of each need significantly and independently predicted against lower levels of depressive symptoms, regardless of ethnicity and sojourner status. A significant interaction emerged between relatedness and sojourner status, indicating that relatedness satisfaction was more strongly associated with reduced depressive symptoms among international students compared to Canadian students. This finding suggests that international students may reap greater mental health benefits from their social networks than local students, potentially due to reduced access to their home support networks during their studies abroad. Overall, the findings support the universality of basic psychological needs and underscore their importance for student well-being, especially among those studying in a foreign country. Basic psychological needs self-determination theory mental health students Introduction Self-determination theory (SDT) is an empirically grounded theory of human motivation that investigates the conditions under which humans thrive. Specifically, SDT posits that all humans must satisfy three basic psychological needs for optimal living: autonomy, acting in a manner that reflects personal values and beliefs; relatedness, feeling connected to other people; and competence, feeling skillful and effective in everyday life (Ryan & Deci, 2017 ). While satisfying these needs results in greater psychological health (Slemp et al., 2024 ; Tang et al., 2020 ), their frustration predicts ill-being (e.g., depressive symptoms; Martela et al., 2023 ). People’s proximal contexts (e.g., work, school, home) shape their need satisfaction and frustration. For example, one study found that students who perceived their teachers as controlling experienced higher need frustration resulting in adverse consequences, such as amotivation and a fear of failure (Bartholomew et al., 2018 ). Proximal contexts are embedded within pervasive social contexts, which are defined by their cultural, political, and economic systems (Ryan & Deci, 2017 ). These broader contextual factors influence people’s values, the values inherent to the contexts surrounding them, and consequently, the extent to which people’s basic psychological needs are satisfied. The Universality Hypothesis SDT proposes several criteria for defining basic psychological needs (Vansteenkiste et al., 2023 ), two of which are relevant to the present paper. First, the satisfaction of a particular need must support positive outcomes (e.g., well-being), while its frustration must predict negative outcomes (e.g., ill-being). Second, a need must be universal, consistently relating to the same positive and negative outcomes across contexts. The defining test of universality is, therefore, process-based, focusing on the functional impact of basic psychological needs. Some researchers have criticized the universality of the basic psychological needs, arguing that some needs are more important in certain cultures than others. Researchers generally agree that competence is cross-culturally beneficial. While some scholars (e.g., Cross et al., 2002 ) have suggested that relatedness is more important in collectivist cultures, cross-cultural SDT research has consistently shown its benefits in individualist cultures as well (Chen et al., 2015 ; Church et al., 2013 ). Autonomy has been the most heavily debated, criticized as a Western value that opposes collectivist values. For example, culturally relativist perspectives suggest that autonomy’s benefits are predicated on the importance of the individual in Western culture, whereas the same does not apply to more collectivist cultures (Markus & Kitayama, 2003 ). Such research has frequently operationalized autonomy as acting and behaving independently of influence from others (e.g., Iyengar & Lepper, 1999 ). This contrasts SDT’s definition of autonomy, which highlights that autonomous behaviour is driven by its alignment with internalized values and beliefs, regardless of whether those are self-generated or instilled by others (Chirkov et al., 2003 ). Following instructions from others can, therefore, constitute autonomous behaviour if those instructions are reflective of personal values and are not perceived as controlling. When operationalized according to SDT’s definition, research has demonstrated the benefits of autonomy cross-culturally (Yu et al., 2018 ). Empirical Research on the Psychological Benefits of the Basic Needs The typical approach to studying the benefits of basic psychological needs cross-culturally has been to sample people from diverse countries and assess how the three needs relate to positive and negative outcomes. For example, Chen et al. ( 2015 ) recruited adolescents from China, Belgium, Peru, and the United States, all of whom lived in their respective countries, to create a large sample with diverse cultural backgrounds. Results showed that the satisfaction of each need uniquely predicted vitality, while life satisfaction was uniquely predicted by relatedness and autonomy satisfaction. Conversely, the frustration of the three needs was associated with depressive symptoms. Importantly, these associations were not moderated by participants’ country of origin. Church et al. ( 2013 ) similarly examined the relation between basic psychological needs and well-being in college students from diverse countries, finding that despite small variations, the relation between needs and well-being did not differ significantly across the eight countries included. Given the debate surrounding autonomy, several studies have focused exclusively on autonomy. A meta-analysis of 27 studies (comprising 36 independent samples) from the U.S. and East Asia found that autonomy was significantly associated with subjective well-being, and that the country in which the study was conducted did not moderate the results (Yu et al., 2018 ). Cross-Cultural Variation in Mean Need Satisfaction SDT outlines that while basic psychological needs are universally beneficial, societal factors may cause average levels of need satisfaction among individuals to vary cross-culturally. For example, research suggests that materialistic values common to Western societies threaten psychological need satisfaction (e.g., Unanue et al., 2014 ). Research also demonstrates that psychologically controlling parenting interferes with basic psychological need satisfaction (e.g., Wei et al., 2022 ). While most studies compare a relatively small number of countries, Church et al. ( 2013 ) sampled individuals from the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Venezuela, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, and Japan. Results showed that participants from Asian countries had significantly lower levels of autonomy satisfaction than those from the United States. Participants from Asian countries other than China also evidenced significantly lower levels of competence satisfaction. Chen et al. ( 2015 ) similarly found that university students from China reported lower levels of competence, relatedness, and autonomy satisfaction than students from the U.S. but did not test for significance. The Present Study Despite growing evidence supporting the universal benefits of the basic psychological needs, past research has typically examined need satisfaction in participants with a specific ethnicity in a concordant cultural context (e.g., Belgian students in Belgium) using a cross-sectional design. Investigating the link between need satisfaction and mental health among individuals who moved to a country where they are not part of the majoritized cultural group could enhance SDT’s evidence base. Such questions could be readily investigated with university student samples, given the large proportion of international students. International students face numerous stressors, such as potential language barriers, unfamiliarity with the local educational system, and a loss of readily available support networks (Prieto-Welch, 2016 ). Unsurprisingly, the similarity between a student’s country of origin and host country explains variability in acculturative stress. For example, Yeh and Inose ( 2003 ) found that among international students at an American University, students from non-European countries experienced more acculturative stress than their European counterparts. Sümer et al. ( 2008 ) highlighted that international students from collectivist countries likely experience more stress than international students from individualist countries at host universities in individualist countries due to greater cultural differences. The present study, therefore, examined need satisfaction and its association with psychological ill-being in international and Canadian students at a large Canadian University using data pooled from multiple longitudinal studies. Specifically, we assessed need satisfaction during the first half of the academic calendar in September and December, and depressive symptoms at the beginning and end of the academic calendar in September and May. Participants were divided based on sojourner status (international vs. Canadian) and ethnicity (Asian vs. White). First, we predicted that international students would have lower levels of need satisfaction and higher levels of depressive symptoms than Canadian students, given the stress of acculturating to a novel context. Second, we hypothesized that autonomy, relatedness, and competence satisfaction would each independently and negatively predict change in depressive symptoms, regardless of participants’ ethnicity and sojourner status. This research will expand SDT’s universality hypothesis by investigating the relation between need satisfaction and depressive symptoms for people living abroad. Method Research Design The present research utilized a subset of variables from six longitudinal, six-wave studies that followed students throughout the academic year at a large Canadian university. These studies were pooled to achieve a sufficient sample size, enabling the division of students into groups based on their self-reported sojourner status and ethnicities. Studies were conducted annually from 2014 to 2019 and assessed a broad range of variables related to SDT and psychological adjustment. We recruited participants through online announcements and posters around campus. The studies were entirely survey-based (Qualtrics), and while the exact dates of each time point varied across studies, they were anchored by the academic calendar (T1: September, T3: November/December, T6: April/May). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 29. To compare changes in depressive symptoms and basic psychological need satisfaction across time between all four groups, we conducted four 2 (sojourner status) x 2 (ethnicity) x 2 (time) mixed ANOVAs, one for depressive symptoms, relatedness, competence, and autonomy. We then analyzed the relationship between all three needs and depressive symptoms using a hierarchical linear regression, where we controlled for T1 depressive symptoms and used each need, sojourner status, and ethnicity as predictors. We entered two-way (e.g., competence*sojourner status, competence*ethnicity) and three-way (e.g., competence*sojourner status*ethnicity) interaction terms for each need. Participants Participants were grouped based on their sojourner status (Canadian or international students) and self-reported ethnicity (White or Asian). We chose these groups because Asian countries generally espouse more collectivist values than Western countries, thus offering a valuable comparison group when examining the universality hypothesis. Asian students also form the largest proportion of BIPOC students, both Canadian and international, at this university. Unfortunately, our sample size was not sufficiently large to disaggregate the Asian sample by participants’ specific country of origin. Participants who reported other ethnicities or self-identified with multiple ethnicities were excluded due to insufficient sample sizes. Sojourners were defined as students who left their home country to attend university in Canada. Our sample for our 2x2x2 mixed ANOVAs for all three needs included 1,603 participants (White Canadian: 46.48%, White European International: 17.78%, Asian Canadian = 16.53%, Asian International = 19.21%) with 80.5% identifying as female, 18.5% as male, and 0.6% as gender diverse or missing. Of the Asian participants, 82.63% were East Asian and the rest were South Asian. The mean age was 20.51 years. Our sample for our 2x2x2 mixed ANOVA for depressive symptoms and our subsequent regression analysis included 1498 participants (White Canadian: 46.86%, White European International: 17.22%, Asian Canadian = 16.36%, Asian International = 19.56%) with 81% identifying as female, 18.1% as male, and 0.9% as gender diverse or missing. Of the Asian participants, 81.87% were East Asian, and the rest were South Asian. The mean age was 20.57 years. Measures Need Satisfaction We measured need satisfaction using the balanced measure of psychological needs which has been extensively validated (BMPN; Sheldon & Hilpert, 2012 ). The scale consists of 18 items, six for each basic psychological need (autonomy, relatedness, and competence), each of which asks participants to rate their agreement with a statement on a Likert scale from one, “not at all true” to seven, “very true”. For example, one statement assessing autonomy satisfaction was “I was free to do things my own way, one item assessing competence satisfaction was "I took on and mastered hard challenges," and an item assessing relatedness satisfaction was “I felt a sense of contact with people who care for me and whom I care for”. We also assessed participants’ need frustration through items like “I had a lot of pressure I could do without” for autonomy frustration. We subtracted participants’ mean scores on the need frustration items from their mean scores on the need satisfaction items to calculate their overall need satisfaction index. We averaged participants’ scores from T1 and T3 to get a reliable estimate of participants’ need satisfaction across the first half of the academic calendar. Depressive Symptoms We measured depressive symptoms using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R 10; Andresen et al., 1994 ). The CESD-R 10 is a validated and reliable 10-item self-report scale that focuses on the affective component of depression. For example, items include “I felt that everything I did was an effort” and “I could not get going”. For each item, participants rated how often they had felt that way over the past two weeks using a four-point Likert scale, from “rarely or none of the time” to “all of the time”. Participants raw scores were summed. Results Table 1 Descriptive Statistics for Need Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms Asian International Asian Canadian White Canadian White European M SD M SD M SD M SD T1 RS 4.79 1.00 4.68 1.05 4.80 1.09 4.91 1.11 T3 RS 4.41 .93 4.47 1.04 4.59 1.04 4.61 1.13 T1 CS 4.00 .98 4.02 .98 4.22 1.04 4.10 1.05 T3 CS 4.01 1.11 4.09 1.10 4.34 1.12 4.32 1.14 T1 AS 4.55 .93 4.52 .84 4.54 .94 4.69 .97 T3 AS 4.08 .91 4.23 .92 4.25 .96 4.13 .97 T1 DS 10.73 5.00 10.48 4.85 10.02 4.84 9.73 4.95 T6 DS 13.17 6.12 12.03 5.42 11.35 5.90 10.96 6.18 Note . RS: relatedness satisfaction, CS: competence satisfaction, AS: autonomy satisfaction, DS: depressive symptoms. The descriptive statistics for all variables are presented in Table 1 . To compare the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs between groups and over time (T1 to T3), we conducted a 2 (sojourner status) x 2 (ethnicity) x 2 (time) mixed ANOVA. For relatedness, there was a significant main effect for time, F (1, 1599) = 67.20, p < .001, η²ₚ = .040, and ethnicity, F (1, 1599) = 7.04, p = .008, η²ₚ = .004, but not for sojourner status. We also found a significant interaction for time*sojourner, F (1, 1599) = 4.86, p = .028, η²ₚ = .003. Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction demonstrated that the relatedness satisfaction of sojourners (T1: M = 4.85, SE = .04; T3: M = 4.51, SE = .04; p < .001) and Canadians (T1: M = 4.74, SE = .04; T3: M = 4.55, SE = .04; p < .001) significantly decreased over time but that the decrease was greater for sojourners. None of the other interactions were significant. For competence, there was a significant main effect for time, F (1, 1599) = 9.72, p = .002, η²ₚ = .006, and ethnicity, F (1, 1599) = 19.77, p = .001, η²ₚ = .012, but not for sojourner status. None of the interaction effects were significant, although the time*ethnicity interaction approached significance, F (1, 1599) = 3.71, p = .054, η²ₚ = .002. Lastly, the analyses for autonomy yielded a significant main effect for time, F (1, 1599) = 175.63, p < .001, η²ₚ = .099, but not for ethnicity or sojourner status. However, we found a significant interaction for time*sojourner, F (1, 1599) = 14.13, p < .001, η²ₚ = .009. Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction demonstrated that the autonomy satisfaction of sojourners (T1: M = 4.63, SE = .04; T3: M = 4.10, SE = .04; p < .001) and Canadians (T1: M = 4.53, SE = .03; T3: M = 4.24, SE = .03; p < .001) significantly decreased over time but that the decrease was greater for sojourners. All other interactions were non-significant. We conducted the same 2x2x2 analysis for depressive symptoms measured at T1 and T6. Results revealed a significant main effect for time, F (1, 1494) = 99.42, p < .001, η²ₚ = .062, and for ethnicity, F (1, 1494) = 17.46, p < .001, η²ₚ = .012, but not for sojourner status. There was a significant time*ethnicity interaction, F (1, 1494) = 4.67, p = .031, η²ₚ = .003. Follow-up pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction revealed that both Asian and White participants’ depressive symptoms significantly increased from T1 (Asian: M = 10.60, SE = .21; White: M = 9.88, SE = .18) to T6 (Asian: M = 12.60, SE = .26; White: M = 11.16, SE = .215), p’ s < .001, suggesting the increase for Asian participants was significantly greater. We also found a significant sojourner*ethnicity interaction, F (1, 1494) = 4.026, p < .045, η²ₚ = .003. Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction revealed that Asian sojourning students ( M = 11.95, SE = .268) averaged significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms than White sojourning students ( M = 10.35, SE = .286), p < .001, and White Canadian students ( M = 10.69. SE = .173), p < .001 across time. All other interactions were non-significant. Next, we examined whether the satisfaction of each need significantly predicted depressive symptoms and whether this was moderated by sojourner status and ethnicity. We conducted a hierarchical linear regression with T6 depressive symptoms as the outcome variable while controlling for T1 depressive symptoms. We initially controlled for age and gender in the first model but found that they did not significantly affect the results, so we removed them from the final analyses. In the second model, we included each need individually (relatedness, competence, autonomy), sojourner status, and ethnicity. In the third model, we entered two-way interaction terms for sojourner status with each need, ethnicity with each need, and sojourner status with ethnicity. In the fourth model, we entered three-way interaction terms for each need with sojourner status and ethnicity. Standardized z-scores for all predictors were used. Results from the second model indicated a significant main effect for each basic psychological need, with all three being negatively related to depressive symptoms (autonomy: β = − .072, t (1491) = -2.171, p = .008, relatedness: β = − .102, t (1491) = -2.618, p < .001, competence: β = − .169, t (1491) = -4.342, p < .001). We also found a significant main effect for ethnicity, such that Asian students had significantly higher depressive symptoms than White students, β = .060, t (1491) = 2.54, p = .011. Sojourner status did not significantly predict depressive symptoms, p = .564. Regarding the interaction terms, no significant effects emerged between the individual needs and ethnicity (autonomy*ethnicity: p = .861, relatedness*ethnicity: p = .111, competence*ethnicity: p = .200). The same was true for sojourner status with autonomy, p = .653, and competence, p = .285. There was, however, a significant interaction between relatedness and sojourner status, β = − .069, t (1484) = -2.084, p = .037, suggesting that the negative relation between relatedness satisfaction and depressive symptoms was stronger for sojourning students. There was also a significant interaction between ethnicity and sojourner status, β = .079, t (1484) = 2.00, p = .045. We followed this up with an ANCOVA, controlling for T1 depressive symptoms and comparing T6 depressive symptoms across all four groups, finding that Asian sojourners had significantly greater depressive symptoms than White Canadian students, p < .001, and White European sojourners, p = .001. None of the other comparisons were significant. Furthermore, none of the three-way interactions from the original regression were significant, autonomy*ethnicity*sojourn: p = .990, relatedness*ethnicity*sojourn: p = .882, competence*ethnicity*sojourn: p = .393. Model one accounted for adjusted R 2 = 19.2% of the variance in depressive symptoms. Model two accounted for adjusted R 2 = 24.5% of the variance in depressive symptoms which was a significant increase from model one, p < .001. Models three and four accounted for adjusted R 2 = 24.7% and 24.6% of the variance in depressive symptoms. Neither represented a significant increase in adjusted R 2 . Discussion SDT’s universality hypothesis has sparked debate among scholars about whether basic psychological needs are beneficial cross-culturally (Ryan & Deci, 2017 ). Autonomy has been especially criticized as a Western value that is highly individualistic, prioritizing the needs and desires of the individual over those of the group. When operationalized according to SDT, research has found autonomy to be beneficial cross-culturally (Chen et al., 2015 ; Church et al., 2013 ; Yu et al., 2018 ). We sought to extend previous research by testing the association between the satisfaction of all three basic psychological needs and depressive symptoms in university students living in a foreign context. Specifically, we tested whether average need satisfaction and depressive symptoms varied by sojourner status and ethnicity. We then evaluated whether the relationship between need satisfaction and depressive symptoms varied by ethnicity and sojourner status. Our results revealed changes over time for all three basic psychological needs. For competence, there was a main effect for time without any interaction effects, suggesting that students felt more competent at the end of the Fall semester (T3) than at the beginning (T1). Students likely felt more competent throughout the Fall semester as they became more comfortable with the material taught in their courses. For relatedness and autonomy, the significant interaction effects demonstrate that while international and Canadian students both reported a significant reduction in the satisfaction of both needs, the reduction was significantly greater for international students. It is possible that the time commitment and stress of school made students feel less autonomous as they were forced to prioritize schoolwork, perhaps at the expense of social activities. The greater reduction in relatedness and autonomy among international students aligns with the aforementioned research that highlights the difficulties international students face in acclimating to a foreign context (Prieto-Welch, 2016 ; Sümer et al., 2008 ; Yeh & and Inose, 2003). Importantly, this research suggests that some of these difficulties may exacerbate throughout the academic year, perhaps because of increasing academic pressure while relocating to and residing in a foreign country. When examining ethnicity, Asian students averaged lower mean levels of competence and relatedness satisfaction compared to White students. This finding partially aligns with Church and colleagues' finding (2013) that students from Asian countries reported lower levels of competence satisfaction than students from the United States. Regarding depressive symptoms, there was a significant interaction between time and ethnicity, demonstrating that although all students’ levels of depressive symptoms increased across the academic year, Asian students experienced a larger increase than White students. Furthermore, the significant interaction between ethnicity and sojourner status highlights that Asian international students experienced more depressive symptoms on average across T1 and T6 than White European international and White Canadian students. Taken together, these findings highlight a greater risk for depressive symptoms among Asian students. These findings may be partially explained by research suggesting that Asian university students are less likely to seek help for mental health concerns. For example, Masuda and Boone ( 2011 ) found that Asian American students had significantly lower overall help-seeking attitudes, stigma tolerance, and openness to seeking mental health support than European American students. Asian American students also evidenced significantly greater mental health stigma and self-concealment, an individual’s propensity to hide distressing information about oneself (Masuda & Boone, 2011 ). Such attitudes may partially explain why Asian students in our sample experienced greater depressive symptoms. Asian sojourning students may be particularly vulnerable given the difficulties of acclimating to a novel cultural context. Yeh and Inose ( 2003 ) similarly found that students from Asia experienced more acculturative stress than students from Europe. Unfortunately, research suggests that international students underutilize individual counseling services (Hwang et al., 2014 ). East Asian international students at an American university highlighted several difficulties they encountered with university counseling services in a qualitative study, such as counsellors not understanding the relevance of participants’ cultural backgrounds, wanting a counsellor from a similar cultural background, and internalized mental health stigma (Liu et al., 2020 ). These findings highlight the intersectional challenges experienced by racialized and international students and the need for more culturally responsive counselling services paired with outreach efforts to engage international students in mental health services. Next, we analyzed whether the satisfaction of autonomy, relatedness, and competence during the first half of the academic calendar independently predicted change in depressive symptoms during the academic calendar. As expected, the satisfaction of all three needs significantly and independently predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms at the end of the academic year, regardless of participants’ ethnicity. This finding supports SDT’s universality claim by showing that the satisfaction of each need independently protects against depressive symptoms for Asian and White participants from Asia, Europe, and Canada. The finding that autonomy significantly protected against depressive symptoms is particularly noteworthy in light of past criticisms—outlined by Ryan and Deci ( 2017 )—that autonomy is primarily beneficial to individuals from Western cultural contexts. While a previous meta-analysis found that autonomy fosters subjective well-being in studies conducted in the U.S. and East Asia (Yu et al., 2018 ), the present study extends those findings by focusing on the psychological ill-being of people living abroad. Results also showed that while sojourning status did not moderate the independent associations between competence and autonomy and depressive symptoms, the association between relatedness satisfaction and depressive symptoms was stronger for sojourning than Canadian students. Specifically, relatedness was significantly more protective against depressive symptoms for sojourning students than Canadian students. Although we did not expect to find this interaction, the results are not entirely surprising. As previously mentioned, international students face many acculturative stressors, with the loss of their previous social support networks being particularly notable. A meta-analysis of 76 studies involving international students highlighted the importance of forming a social network, finding that social support was positively associated with psychological adjustment (Bender et al., 2019 ). The present study expands this research by suggesting that this association may be stronger for international students than local students. This finding would support a compensatory theory of the need for relatedness. As Vite et al. ( 2024 ) describe, a compensatory theory suggests that although needs are universally beneficial, they may be more important when they are inconsistently satisfied. This theory would explain why relatedness satisfaction was more protective against depressive symptoms for international students who likely have less immediately accessible social support networks than local students. Limitations and Future Directions While the present study added nuance to previous research on the universality hypothesis by considering students of varying ethnicities from different countries, the groups were large and heterogeneous, consisting of students from diverse countries within Asia and Europe. Future research should employ more targeted recruitment to disaggregate these large groups into specific regions and also consider other ethno-racial groups. Other cultural variables such as values (e.g., collectivism and individualism) should also be assessed in future research as participants’ ethnic background reflects only a small part of their cultural identity. Additionally, the present study only included students living in Canada. Future studies should partner with foreign universities in regions of interest to allow for further comparisons. The present study also only considered undergraduate students. However, previous studies on the universality hypothesis have found differences across developmental stages. Most notably, a meta-analysis (Vite et al., 2024 ) of studies involving kindergarten to grade 12 youth found that while autonomy satisfaction was consistently and significantly associated with well-being, the relationship was significantly stronger in studies from collectivist countries than in those from individualist countries. Vite et al. ( 2024 ) suggest that their findings may differ from Yu et al.'s ( 2018 ) meta-analysis due to participants being in different developmental stages (K-12 vs. college students). Specifically, they suggest that cultural context is more influential when younger, thus having a greater effect on the association between autonomy and well-being. Future research on the universality hypothesis should expand to include people from a wider developmental range. Most research on basic psychological needs assesses validated constructs in diverse populations (i.e., “top down research”) to demonstrate that autonomy, relatedness, and competence are equally beneficial cross-culturally (Lynch, 2023 ). While such nomothetic and quantitative research is crucial to supporting SDT’s universality hypothesis, future research should also employ idiographic and qualitative methods with understudied ethnic and cultural groups (Lynch, 2023 ). Taking a bottom-up approach can strongly support the universality of basic psychological needs, as participants are not prompted in the same way as they are on quantitative measures, such as the BMPN (Sheldon & Hilpert, 2012 ). Instead, researchers could ask more open-ended questions to elicit descriptions of important needs in a specific culture without specifying what those might be (e.g., Lynch & Salikhova, 2017 ). Conclusion The present study addresses important gaps in past research by investigating the association between basic psychological needs and depressive symptoms in students living in their home country and those living abroad. Results showed that autonomy, relatedness, and competence are all independently related to lower levels of depressive symptoms. Interestingly, relatedness appeared to be more protective against depressive symptoms for sojourning students, highlighting the heightened importance of forming social networks for those living overseas. Together, these results contribute to SDT by demonstrating the benefits of basic psychological needs in those living abroad while also demonstrating the particular importance of relatedness for international students. Declarations The present study received ethical approval from McGill University’s research ethics board. All participants reviewed the consent form prior to participating and provided informed consent. Funding Declaration : The present study was supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (grant number 435-2024-0693). The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Author Contribution J.A. wrote the manuscript with the support of R.K., X.F., A.H., and É.A., who reviewed and edited the manuscript. R.K. led data collection for each study included and prepared the final dataset. The rest of the authors also helped with data collection and organization. J.A., R.K., and X.F. all contributed to the present study's conceptualization. J.A. and R.K. collaboratively analyzed the data. Acknowledgement The present paper would not have been possible without the contributions of the many graduate and undergraduate students from the human motivation lab who have contributed to our studies over the years. Data Availability An SPSS file and the output associated with the results of this study can be found on OSF: https://osf.io/9pxke/?view_only=3e362d1fd60344a7826fe37371c36703 References Andresen, E. M., Malmgren, J. A., Carter, W. B., & Patrick, D. L. (1994). Screening for Depression in well older adults: Evaluation of a short form of the CES-D. American Journal of Preventive Medicine , 10 (2), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(18)30622-6 Bartholomew, K. J., Ntoumanis, N., Mouratidis, A., Katartzi, E., Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., & Vlachopoulos, S. (2018). Beware of your teaching style: A school-year long investigation of controlling teaching and student motivational experiences. 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Differentiating autonomy from individualism and independence: A self-determination theory perspective on internalization of cultural orientations and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 84 (1), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.97 Church, A. T., Katigbak, M. S., Locke, K. D., Zhang, H., Shen, J., de Jesús Vargas-Flores, J., Ibáñez-Reyes, J., Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Curtis, G. J., Cabrera, H. F., Mastor, K. A., Alvarez, J. M., Ortiz, F. A., Simon, J. Y. R., & Ching, C. M. (2013). Need Satisfaction and Well-Being: Testing Self-Determination Theory in Eight Cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology , 44 (4), 507–534. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022112466590 Cross, S. E., Morris, M. L., & Gore, J. S. (2002). Thinking about oneself and others: The relational-interdependent self-construal and social cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 82 (3), 399–418. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.3.399 Iyengar, S. S., & Lepper, M. R. (1999). Rethinking the value of choice: A cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 76 (3), 349–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.349 Liu, H., Wong, Y. J., Mitts, N. G., Li, P. F. J., & Cheng, J. (2020). A Phenomenological Study of East Asian International Students’ Experience of Counseling. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling , 42 (3), 269–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-020-09399-6 Lynch, M. F. (2023). Self-Determination Theory in Cross-Cultural Research. In R. M. Ryan (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Self-Determination Theory (p. 0). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197600047.013.51 Lynch, M., & Salikhova, N. (2017). Teachers’ Beliefs about the Needs of Students: Teachers as Local Experts (A Qualitative Analysis). Education & Self Development , 12 (3), 33–43. https://doi.org/10.26907/esd12.3.03 Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (2003). Models of agency: Sociocultural diversity in the construction of action. Cross-cultural differences in perspectives on the self (pp. 18–74). University of Nebraska. Martela, F., Lehmus-Sun, A., Parker, P. D., Pessi, A. B., & Ryan, R. M. (2023). Needs and Well-Being Across Europe: Basic Psychological Needs Are Closely Connected With Well-Being, Meaning, and Symptoms of Depression in 27 European Countries. Social Psychological and Personality Science , 14 (5), 501–514. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221113678 Masuda, A., & Boone, M. S. (2011). Mental Health Stigma, Self-Concealment, and Help-Seeking Attitudes among Asian American and European American College Students with No Help-Seeking Experience. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling , 33 (4), 266–279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-011-9129-1 Prieto-Welch, S. L. (2016). International Student Mental Health. New Directions for Student Services , 2016 (156), 53–63. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.20191 Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness . Guilford. Sheldon, K. M., & Hilpert, J. C. (2012). The balanced measure of psychological needs (BMPN) scale: An alternative domain general measure of need satisfaction. Motivation and Emotion , 36 (4), 439–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9279-4 Slemp, G. R., Field, J. G., Ryan, R. M., Forner, V. W., Van den Broeck, A., & Lewis, K. J. (2024). Interpersonal supports for basic psychological needs and their relations with motivation, well-being, and performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 127 (5), 1012–1037. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000459 Sümer, S., Poyrazli, S., & Grahame, K. (2008). Predictors of Depression and Anxiety Among International Students. Journal of Counseling & Development , 86 (4), 429–437. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2008.tb00531.x Tang, M., Wang, D., & Guerrien, A. (2020). A systematic review and meta-analysis on basic psychological need satisfaction, motivation, and well-being in later life: Contributions of self-determination theory. PsyCh Journal , 9 (1), 5–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.293 Unanue, W., Dittmar, H., Vignoles, V. L., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2014). Materialism and Well–Being in the Uk and Chile: Basic Need Satisfaction and Basic Need Frustration as Underlying Psychological Processes. European Journal of Personality , 28 (6), 569–585. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1954 Vansteenkiste, M., Soenens, B., & Ryan, R. M. (2023). Basic Psychological Needs Theory: A Conceptual and Empirical Review of Key Criteria. In R. M. Ryan (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Self-Determination Theory (p. 0). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197600047.013.5 Vite, A., Patall, E. A., & Chen, M. (2024). Relationships Between Experiences of Autonomy and Well(Ill)-Being for K-12 Youth: A Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review , 36 (4), 127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09967-x Wei, S., Teo, T., Malpique, A., & Lausen, A. (2022). Parental Autonomy Support, Parental Psychological Control and Chinese University Students’ Behavior Regulation: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs. Frontiers in Psychology , 12 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.735570 Yeh, C. J.,and, & Inose, M. (2003). International students’ reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress. Counselling Psychology Quarterly , 16 (1), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951507031000114058 Yu, S., Levesque-Bristol, C., & Maeda, Y. (2018). General Need for Autonomy and Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis of Studies in the US and East Asia. Journal of Happiness Studies , 19 (6), 1863–1882. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9898-2 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7124861","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":486943450,"identity":"de1befd1-ba9d-4210-b898-7a7491392d22","order_by":0,"name":"James Avery","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYk9gMGBgkZMDOhwIIoLcwGQC08EC0GEkTZyAZSBtHCgEcLc/vpxIc/GOwS+6XPmFXdqLHgYRA7/PjFA6AW/vYD2B3Wk7vZmIchOXFmX47Z7ZxjQIdJp5lZgBwmcSYBh19yt0kDLTM2OMMD1MIG0pLDZgDSYsCAQ0v/2+0/fzDUG9sDtRTn/EPWwv8Au5YZuduAXj4sZ8DDY8ac2wbWwvwArEUChy0z3m6W5jE4Lidxhq1YOrdPgocN6BdQIPNI3MBui2F/7saPPyqqefh7mDd+zvlWJ8cvnfwYKGIjx9+P3RbDBhBpACI4wCQDG2oEYQJ5BJMd7g7mD7iUj4JRMApGwYgEADFBTh8oniiZAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"McGill University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"James","middleName":"","lastName":"Avery","suffix":""},{"id":486943452,"identity":"ec96ad9d-9b46-47c1-b26b-77b22d3c5a08","order_by":1,"name":"Xiaoyan Fang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"McGill University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaoyan","middleName":"","lastName":"Fang","suffix":""},{"id":486943454,"identity":"a30a8d9d-357e-4b5b-a929-a2a93963f3b9","order_by":2,"name":"Anne Holding","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"McGill University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anne","middleName":"","lastName":"Holding","suffix":""},{"id":486943455,"identity":"fc6025a0-9abf-49c1-8b61-f73dd4d3eb93","order_by":3,"name":"Élodie Audet","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"McGill University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Élodie","middleName":"","lastName":"Audet","suffix":""},{"id":486943456,"identity":"5b5ad5fe-053e-4da7-aa79-9a2976317a53","order_by":4,"name":"Richard Koestner","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"McGill University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Richard","middleName":"","lastName":"Koestner","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-15 00:08:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7124861/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7124861/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89979400,"identity":"1f40a19f-1985-420a-a1fb-aacf6d3ad9f5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-27 06:18:12","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":712407,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7124861/v1/8be3dd19-7bb0-4af6-a165-1de8e5ccb296.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Do basic psychological needs know borders? A self-determination theory analysis of Canadian and international students","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eSelf-determination theory (SDT) is an empirically grounded theory of human motivation that investigates the conditions under which humans thrive. Specifically, SDT posits that all humans must satisfy three basic psychological needs for optimal living: autonomy, acting in a manner that reflects personal values and beliefs; relatedness, feeling connected to other people; and competence, feeling skillful and effective in everyday life (Ryan \u0026amp; Deci, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). While satisfying these needs results in greater psychological health (Slemp et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Tang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), their frustration predicts ill-being (e.g., depressive symptoms; Martela et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). People’s proximal contexts (e.g., work, school, home) shape their need satisfaction and frustration. For example, one study found that students who perceived their teachers as controlling experienced higher need frustration resulting in adverse consequences, such as amotivation and a fear of failure (Bartholomew et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). Proximal contexts are embedded within pervasive social contexts, which are defined by their cultural, political, and economic systems (Ryan \u0026amp; Deci, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). These broader contextual factors influence people’s values, the values inherent to the contexts surrounding them, and consequently, the extent to which people’s basic psychological needs are satisfied.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Universality Hypothesis\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSDT proposes several criteria for defining basic psychological needs (Vansteenkiste et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), two of which are relevant to the present paper. First, the satisfaction of a particular need must support positive outcomes (e.g., well-being), while its frustration must predict negative outcomes (e.g., ill-being). Second, a need must be universal, consistently relating to the same positive and negative outcomes across contexts. The defining test of universality is, therefore, process-based, focusing on the functional impact of basic psychological needs.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSome researchers have criticized the universality of the basic psychological needs, arguing that some needs are more important in certain cultures than others. Researchers generally agree that competence is cross-culturally beneficial. While some scholars (e.g., Cross et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e) have suggested that relatedness is more important in collectivist cultures, cross-cultural SDT research has consistently shown its benefits in individualist cultures as well (Chen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Church et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). Autonomy has been the most heavily debated, criticized as a Western value that opposes collectivist values. For example, culturally relativist perspectives suggest that autonomy’s benefits are predicated on the importance of the individual in Western culture, whereas the same does not apply to more collectivist cultures (Markus \u0026amp; Kitayama, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). Such research has frequently operationalized autonomy as acting and behaving independently of influence from others (e.g., Iyengar \u0026amp; Lepper, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e). This contrasts SDT’s definition of autonomy, which highlights that autonomous behaviour is driven by its alignment with internalized values and beliefs, regardless of whether those are self-generated or instilled by others (Chirkov et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). Following instructions from others can, therefore, constitute autonomous behaviour if those instructions are reflective of personal values and are not perceived as controlling. When operationalized according to SDT’s definition, research has demonstrated the benefits of autonomy cross-culturally (Yu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEmpirical Research on the Psychological Benefits of the Basic Needs\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe typical approach to studying the benefits of basic psychological needs cross-culturally has been to sample people from diverse countries and assess how the three needs relate to positive and negative outcomes. For example, Chen et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) recruited adolescents from China, Belgium, Peru, and the United States, all of whom lived in their respective countries, to create a large sample with diverse cultural backgrounds. Results showed that the satisfaction of each need uniquely predicted vitality, while life satisfaction was uniquely predicted by relatedness and autonomy satisfaction. Conversely, the frustration of the three needs was associated with depressive symptoms. Importantly, these associations were not moderated by participants’ country of origin. Church et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) similarly examined the relation between basic psychological needs and well-being in college students from diverse countries, finding that despite small variations, the relation between needs and well-being did not differ significantly across the eight countries included. Given the debate surrounding autonomy, several studies have focused exclusively on autonomy. A meta-analysis of 27 studies (comprising 36 independent samples) from the U.S. and East Asia found that autonomy was significantly associated with subjective well-being, and that the country in which the study was conducted did not moderate the results (Yu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCross-Cultural Variation in Mean Need Satisfaction\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSDT outlines that while basic psychological needs are universally beneficial, societal factors may cause average levels of need satisfaction among individuals to vary cross-culturally. For example, research suggests that materialistic values common to Western societies threaten psychological need satisfaction (e.g., Unanue et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). Research also demonstrates that psychologically controlling parenting interferes with basic psychological need satisfaction (e.g., Wei et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). While most studies compare a relatively small number of countries, Church et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) sampled individuals from the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Venezuela, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, and Japan. Results showed that participants from Asian countries had significantly lower levels of autonomy satisfaction than those from the United States. Participants from Asian countries other than China also evidenced significantly lower levels of competence satisfaction. Chen et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) similarly found that university students from China reported lower levels of competence, relatedness, and autonomy satisfaction than students from the U.S. but did not test for significance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Present Study\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite growing evidence supporting the universal benefits of the basic psychological needs, past research has typically examined need satisfaction in participants with a specific ethnicity in a concordant cultural context (e.g., Belgian students in Belgium) using a cross-sectional design. Investigating the link between need satisfaction and mental health among individuals who moved to a country where they are not part of the majoritized cultural group could enhance SDT’s evidence base. Such questions could be readily investigated with university student samples, given the large proportion of international students. International students face numerous stressors, such as potential language barriers, unfamiliarity with the local educational system, and a loss of readily available support networks (Prieto-Welch, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Unsurprisingly, the similarity between a student’s country of origin and host country explains variability in acculturative stress. For example, Yeh and Inose (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e) found that among international students at an American University, students from non-European countries experienced more acculturative stress than their European counterparts. Sümer et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e) highlighted that international students from collectivist countries likely experience more stress than international students from individualist countries at host universities in individualist countries due to greater cultural differences.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe present study, therefore, examined need satisfaction and its association with psychological ill-being in international and Canadian students at a large Canadian University using data pooled from multiple longitudinal studies. Specifically, we assessed need satisfaction during the first half of the academic calendar in September and December, and depressive symptoms at the beginning and end of the academic calendar in September and May. Participants were divided based on sojourner status (international vs. Canadian) and ethnicity (Asian vs. White). First, we predicted that international students would have lower levels of need satisfaction and higher levels of depressive symptoms than Canadian students, given the stress of acculturating to a novel context. Second, we hypothesized that autonomy, relatedness, and competence satisfaction would each independently and negatively predict change in depressive symptoms, regardless of participants’ ethnicity and sojourner status. This research will expand SDT’s universality hypothesis by investigating the relation between need satisfaction and depressive symptoms for people living abroad.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Method","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eResearch Design\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The present research utilized a subset of variables from six longitudinal, six-wave studies that followed students throughout the academic year at a large Canadian university. These studies were pooled to achieve a sufficient sample size, enabling the division of students into groups based on their self-reported sojourner status and ethnicities. Studies were conducted annually from 2014 to 2019 and assessed a broad range of variables related to SDT and psychological adjustment. We recruited participants through online announcements and posters around campus. The studies were entirely survey-based (Qualtrics), and while the exact dates of each time point varied across studies, they were anchored by the academic calendar (T1: September, T3: November/December, T6: April/May). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 29. To compare changes in depressive symptoms and basic psychological need satisfaction across time between all four groups, we conducted four 2 (sojourner status) x 2 (ethnicity) x 2 (time) mixed ANOVAs, one for depressive symptoms, relatedness, competence, and autonomy. We then analyzed the relationship between all three needs and depressive symptoms using a hierarchical linear regression, where we controlled for T1 depressive symptoms and used each need, sojourner status, and ethnicity as predictors. We entered two-way (e.g., competence*sojourner status, competence*ethnicity) and three-way (e.g., competence*sojourner status*ethnicity) interaction terms for each need.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eParticipants\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eParticipants were grouped based on their sojourner status (Canadian or international students) and self-reported ethnicity (White or Asian). We chose these groups because Asian countries generally espouse more collectivist values than Western countries, thus offering a valuable comparison group when examining the universality hypothesis. Asian students also form the largest proportion of BIPOC students, both Canadian and international, at this university. Unfortunately, our sample size was not sufficiently large to disaggregate the Asian sample by participants’ specific country of origin. Participants who reported other ethnicities or self-identified with multiple ethnicities were excluded due to insufficient sample sizes. Sojourners were defined as students who left their home country to attend university in Canada. Our sample for our 2x2x2 mixed ANOVAs for all three needs included 1,603 participants (White Canadian: 46.48%, White European International: 17.78%, Asian Canadian = 16.53%, Asian International = 19.21%) with 80.5% identifying as female, 18.5% as male, and 0.6% as gender diverse or missing. Of the Asian participants, 82.63% were East Asian and the rest were South Asian. The mean age was 20.51 years. Our sample for our 2x2x2 mixed ANOVA for depressive symptoms and our subsequent regression analysis included 1498 participants (White Canadian: 46.86%, White European International: 17.22%, Asian Canadian = 16.36%, Asian International = 19.56%) with 81% identifying as female, 18.1% as male, and 0.9% as gender diverse or missing. Of the Asian participants, 81.87% were East Asian, and the rest were South Asian. The mean age was 20.57 years.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMeasures\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNeed Satisfaction\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe measured need satisfaction using the balanced measure of psychological needs which has been extensively validated (BMPN; Sheldon \u0026amp; Hilpert, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). The scale consists of 18 items, six for each basic psychological need (autonomy, relatedness, and competence), each of which asks participants to rate their agreement with a statement on a Likert scale from one, “not at all true” to seven, “very true”. For example, one statement assessing autonomy satisfaction was “I was free to do things my own way, one item assessing competence satisfaction was \"I took on and mastered hard challenges,\" and an item assessing relatedness satisfaction was “I felt a sense of contact with people who care for me and whom I care for”. We also assessed participants’ need frustration through items like “I had a lot of pressure I could do without” for autonomy frustration. We subtracted participants’ mean scores on the need frustration items from their mean scores on the need satisfaction items to calculate their overall need satisfaction index. We averaged participants’ scores from T1 and T3 to get a reliable estimate of participants’ need satisfaction across the first half of the academic calendar.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDepressive Symptoms\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe measured depressive symptoms using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R 10; Andresen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1994\u003c/span\u003e). The CESD-R 10 is a validated and reliable 10-item self-report scale that focuses on the affective component of depression. For example, items include “I felt that everything I did was an effort” and “I could not get going”. For each item, participants rated how often they had felt that way over the past two weeks using a four-point Likert scale, from “rarely or none of the time” to “all of the time”. Participants raw scores were summed.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDescriptive Statistics for Need Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"9\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAsian International\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAsian Canadian\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhite Canadian\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhite European\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT1 RS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.79\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.68\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.05\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.80\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.09\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.91\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.11\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT3 RS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.41\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.93\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.47\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.04\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.59\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.04\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.61\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.13\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT1 CS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.00\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.98\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.02\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.98\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.22\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.04\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.05\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT3 CS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.01\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.11\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.09\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.34\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.12\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.32\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT1 AS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.55\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.93\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.52\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.84\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.54\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.94\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.69\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.97\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT3 AS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.08\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.91\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.23\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.92\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.96\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.13\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e.97\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT1 DS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.73\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.00\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.48\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.85\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.02\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.84\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.73\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.95\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eT6 DS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.17\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.12\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.03\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.42\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11.35\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.90\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.96\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.18\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote\u003c/em\u003e. RS: relatedness satisfaction, CS: competence satisfaction, AS: autonomy satisfaction, DS: depressive symptoms.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe descriptive statistics for all variables are presented in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. To compare the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs between groups and over time (T1 to T3), we conducted a 2 (sojourner status) x 2 (ethnicity) x 2 (time) mixed ANOVA. For relatedness, there was a significant main effect for time, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1599)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;67.20, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .040, and ethnicity, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1599)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7.04, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.008, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .004, but not for sojourner status. We also found a significant interaction for time*sojourner, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1599)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.86, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.028, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .003. Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction demonstrated that the relatedness satisfaction of sojourners (T1: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.85, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.04; T3: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.51, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.04; \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001) and Canadians (T1: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.74, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.04; T3: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.55, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.04; \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001) significantly decreased over time but that the decrease was greater for sojourners. None of the other interactions were significant. For competence, there was a significant main effect for time, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1599)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;9.72, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.002, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .006, and ethnicity, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1599)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;19.77, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.001, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .012, but not for sojourner status. None of the interaction effects were significant, although the time*ethnicity interaction approached significance, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1599)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.71, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.054, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .002. Lastly, the analyses for autonomy yielded a significant main effect for time, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1599)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;175.63, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .099, but not for ethnicity or sojourner status. However, we found a significant interaction for time*sojourner, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1599)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;14.13, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .009. Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction demonstrated that the autonomy satisfaction of sojourners (T1: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.63, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.04; T3: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.10, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.04; \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001) and Canadians (T1: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.53, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.03; T3: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.24, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.03; \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001) significantly decreased over time but that the decrease was greater for sojourners. All other interactions were non-significant.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe conducted the same 2x2x2 analysis for depressive symptoms measured at T1 and T6. Results revealed a significant main effect for time, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1494)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;99.42, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .062, and for ethnicity, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1494)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;17.46, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .012, but not for sojourner status. There was a significant time*ethnicity interaction, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1494)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.67, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.031, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .003. Follow-up pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction revealed that both Asian and White participants\u0026rsquo; depressive symptoms significantly increased from T1 (Asian: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;10.60, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.21; White: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;9.88, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.18) to T6 (Asian: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;12.60, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.26; White: \u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;11.16, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.215), \u003cem\u003ep\u0026rsquo;\u003c/em\u003es\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, suggesting the increase for Asian participants was significantly greater. We also found a significant sojourner*ethnicity interaction, \u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e(1, 1494)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.026, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.045, \u003cem\u003eη\u0026sup2;ₚ\u003c/em\u003e = .003. Pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction revealed that Asian sojourning students (\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;11.95, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.268) averaged significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms than White sojourning students (\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;10.35, \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.286), \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, and White Canadian students (\u003cem\u003eM\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;10.69. \u003cem\u003eSE\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.173), \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001 across time. All other interactions were non-significant.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNext, we examined whether the satisfaction of each need significantly predicted depressive symptoms and whether this was moderated by sojourner status and ethnicity. We conducted a hierarchical linear regression with T6 depressive symptoms as the outcome variable while controlling for T1 depressive symptoms. We initially controlled for age and gender in the first model but found that they did not significantly affect the results, so we removed them from the final analyses. In the second model, we included each need individually (relatedness, competence, autonomy), sojourner status, and ethnicity. In the third model, we entered two-way interaction terms for sojourner status with each need, ethnicity with each need, and sojourner status with ethnicity. In the fourth model, we entered three-way interaction terms for each need with sojourner status and ethnicity. Standardized z-scores for all predictors were used. Results from the second model indicated a significant main effect for each basic psychological need, with all three being negatively related to depressive symptoms (autonomy: β = \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.072, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e(1491) = -2.171, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.008, relatedness: β = \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.102, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e(1491) = -2.618, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, competence: β = \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.169, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e(1491) = -4.342, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001). We also found a significant main effect for ethnicity, such that Asian students had significantly higher depressive symptoms than White students, β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.060, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e(1491)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2.54, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.011. Sojourner status did not significantly predict depressive symptoms, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.564.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegarding the interaction terms, no significant effects emerged between the individual needs and ethnicity (autonomy*ethnicity: \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.861, relatedness*ethnicity: \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.111, competence*ethnicity: \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.200). The same was true for sojourner status with autonomy, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.653, and competence, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.285. There was, however, a significant interaction between relatedness and sojourner status, β = \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.069, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e(1484) = -2.084, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.037, suggesting that the negative relation between relatedness satisfaction and depressive symptoms was stronger for sojourning students. There was also a significant interaction between ethnicity and sojourner status, β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.079, \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e(1484)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2.00, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.045. We followed this up with an ANCOVA, controlling for T1 depressive symptoms and comparing T6 depressive symptoms across all four groups, finding that Asian sojourners had significantly greater depressive symptoms than White Canadian students, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001, and White European sojourners, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.001. None of the other comparisons were significant. Furthermore, none of the three-way interactions from the original regression were significant, autonomy*ethnicity*sojourn: \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.990, relatedness*ethnicity*sojourn: \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.882, competence*ethnicity*sojourn: \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.393.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eModel one accounted for adjusted \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cem\u003e2\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;19.2% of the variance in depressive symptoms. Model two accounted for adjusted \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cem\u003e2\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;24.5% of the variance in depressive symptoms which was a significant increase from model one, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001. Models three and four accounted for adjusted \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cem\u003e2\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;24.7% and 24.6% of the variance in depressive symptoms. Neither represented a significant increase in adjusted \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e\u003cem\u003e2\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eSDT\u0026rsquo;s universality hypothesis has sparked debate among scholars about whether basic psychological needs are beneficial cross-culturally (Ryan \u0026amp; Deci, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Autonomy has been especially criticized as a Western value that is highly individualistic, prioritizing the needs and desires of the individual over those of the group. When operationalized according to SDT, research has found autonomy to be beneficial cross-culturally (Chen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Church et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; Yu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). We sought to extend previous research by testing the association between the satisfaction of all three basic psychological needs and depressive symptoms in university students living in a foreign context. Specifically, we tested whether average need satisfaction and depressive symptoms varied by sojourner status and ethnicity. We then evaluated whether the relationship between need satisfaction and depressive symptoms varied by ethnicity and sojourner status.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur results revealed changes over time for all three basic psychological needs. For competence, there was a main effect for time without any interaction effects, suggesting that students felt more competent at the end of the Fall semester (T3) than at the beginning (T1). Students likely felt more competent throughout the Fall semester as they became more comfortable with the material taught in their courses. For relatedness and autonomy, the significant interaction effects demonstrate that while international and Canadian students both reported a significant reduction in the satisfaction of both needs, the reduction was significantly greater for international students. It is possible that the time commitment and stress of school made students feel less autonomous as they were forced to prioritize schoolwork, perhaps at the expense of social activities. The greater reduction in relatedness and autonomy among international students aligns with the aforementioned research that highlights the difficulties international students face in acclimating to a foreign context (Prieto-Welch, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; S\u0026uuml;mer et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e; Yeh \u0026amp; and Inose, 2003). Importantly, this research suggests that some of these difficulties may exacerbate throughout the academic year, perhaps because of increasing academic pressure while relocating to and residing in a foreign country. When examining ethnicity, Asian students averaged lower mean levels of competence and relatedness satisfaction compared to White students. This finding partially aligns with Church and colleagues' finding (2013) that students from Asian countries reported lower levels of competence satisfaction than students from the United States.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegarding depressive symptoms, there was a significant interaction between time and ethnicity, demonstrating that although all students\u0026rsquo; levels of depressive symptoms increased across the academic year, Asian students experienced a larger increase than White students. Furthermore, the significant interaction between ethnicity and sojourner status highlights that Asian international students experienced more depressive symptoms on average across T1 and T6 than White European international and White Canadian students. Taken together, these findings highlight a greater risk for depressive symptoms among Asian students. These findings may be partially explained by research suggesting that Asian university students are less likely to seek help for mental health concerns. For example, Masuda and Boone (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) found that Asian American students had significantly lower overall help-seeking attitudes, stigma tolerance, and openness to seeking mental health support than European American students. Asian American students also evidenced significantly greater mental health stigma and self-concealment, an individual\u0026rsquo;s propensity to hide distressing information about oneself (Masuda \u0026amp; Boone, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Such attitudes may partially explain why Asian students in our sample experienced greater depressive symptoms. Asian sojourning students may be particularly vulnerable given the difficulties of acclimating to a novel cultural context. Yeh and Inose (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e) similarly found that students from Asia experienced more acculturative stress than students from Europe. Unfortunately, research suggests that international students underutilize individual counseling services (Hwang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). East Asian international students at an American university highlighted several difficulties they encountered with university counseling services in a qualitative study, such as counsellors not understanding the relevance of participants\u0026rsquo; cultural backgrounds, wanting a counsellor from a similar cultural background, and internalized mental health stigma (Liu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). These findings highlight the intersectional challenges experienced by racialized and international students and the need for more culturally responsive counselling services paired with outreach efforts to engage international students in mental health services.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNext, we analyzed whether the satisfaction of autonomy, relatedness, and competence during the first half of the academic calendar independently predicted change in depressive symptoms during the academic calendar. As expected, the satisfaction of all three needs significantly and independently predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms at the end of the academic year, regardless of participants\u0026rsquo; ethnicity. This finding supports SDT\u0026rsquo;s universality claim by showing that the satisfaction of each need independently protects against depressive symptoms for Asian and White participants from Asia, Europe, and Canada. The finding that autonomy significantly protected against depressive symptoms is particularly noteworthy in light of past criticisms\u0026mdash;outlined by Ryan and Deci (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e)\u0026mdash;that autonomy is primarily beneficial to individuals from Western cultural contexts. While a previous meta-analysis found that autonomy fosters subjective well-being in studies conducted in the U.S. and East Asia (Yu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e), the present study extends those findings by focusing on the psychological ill-being of people living abroad.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eResults also showed that while sojourning status did not moderate the independent associations between competence and autonomy and depressive symptoms, the association between relatedness satisfaction and depressive symptoms was stronger for sojourning than Canadian students. Specifically, relatedness was significantly more protective against depressive symptoms for sojourning students than Canadian students. Although we did not expect to find this interaction, the results are not entirely surprising. As previously mentioned, international students face many acculturative stressors, with the loss of their previous social support networks being particularly notable. A meta-analysis of 76 studies involving international students highlighted the importance of forming a social network, finding that social support was positively associated with psychological adjustment (Bender et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). The present study expands this research by suggesting that this association may be stronger for international students than local students. This finding would support a compensatory theory of the need for relatedness. As Vite et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) describe, a compensatory theory suggests that although needs are universally beneficial, they may be more important when they are inconsistently satisfied. This theory would explain why relatedness satisfaction was more protective against depressive symptoms for international students who likely have less immediately accessible social support networks than local students.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLimitations and Future Directions\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile the present study added nuance to previous research on the universality hypothesis by considering students of varying ethnicities from different countries, the groups were large and heterogeneous, consisting of students from diverse countries within Asia and Europe. Future research should employ more targeted recruitment to disaggregate these large groups into specific regions and also consider other ethno-racial groups. Other cultural variables such as values (e.g., collectivism and individualism) should also be assessed in future research as participants\u0026rsquo; ethnic background reflects only a small part of their cultural identity. Additionally, the present study only included students living in Canada. Future studies should partner with foreign universities in regions of interest to allow for further comparisons.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe present study also only considered undergraduate students. However, previous studies on the universality hypothesis have found differences across developmental stages. Most notably, a meta-analysis (Vite et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) of studies involving kindergarten to grade 12 youth found that while autonomy satisfaction was consistently and significantly associated with well-being, the relationship was significantly stronger in studies from collectivist countries than in those from individualist countries. Vite et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) suggest that their findings may differ from Yu et al.'s (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) meta-analysis due to participants being in different developmental stages (K-12 vs. college students). Specifically, they suggest that cultural context is more influential when younger, thus having a greater effect on the association between autonomy and well-being. Future research on the universality hypothesis should expand to include people from a wider developmental range.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost research on basic psychological needs assesses validated constructs in diverse populations (i.e., \u0026ldquo;top down research\u0026rdquo;) to demonstrate that autonomy, relatedness, and competence are equally beneficial cross-culturally (Lynch, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). While such nomothetic and quantitative research is crucial to supporting SDT\u0026rsquo;s universality hypothesis, future research should also employ idiographic and qualitative methods with understudied ethnic and cultural groups (Lynch, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Taking a bottom-up approach can strongly support the universality of basic psychological needs, as participants are not prompted in the same way as they are on quantitative measures, such as the BMPN (Sheldon \u0026amp; Hilpert, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Instead, researchers could ask more open-ended questions to elicit descriptions of important needs in a specific culture without specifying what those might be (e.g., Lynch \u0026amp; Salikhova, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe present study addresses important gaps in past research by investigating the association between basic psychological needs and depressive symptoms in students living in their home country and those living abroad. Results showed that autonomy, relatedness, and competence are all independently related to lower levels of depressive symptoms. Interestingly, relatedness appeared to be more protective against depressive symptoms for sojourning students, highlighting the heightened importance of forming social networks for those living overseas. Together, these results contribute to SDT by demonstrating the benefits of basic psychological needs in those living abroad while also demonstrating the particular importance of relatedness for international students.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch5\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe present study received ethical approval from McGill University’s research ethics board.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAll participants reviewed the consent form prior to participating and provided informed consent.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFunding Declaration\u003c/b\u003e: The present study was supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (grant number 435-2024-0693). The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eJ.A. wrote the manuscript with the support of R.K., X.F., A.H., and \u0026Eacute;.A., who reviewed and edited the manuscript. R.K. led data collection for each study included and prepared the final dataset. The rest of the authors also helped with data collection and organization. J.A., R.K., and X.F. all contributed to the present study's conceptualization. J.A. and R.K. collaboratively analyzed the data.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgement\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe present paper would not have been possible without the contributions of the many graduate and undergraduate students from the human motivation lab who have contributed to our studies over the years.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn SPSS file and the output associated with the results of this study can be found on OSF: https://osf.io/9pxke/?view_only=3e362d1fd60344a7826fe37371c36703\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAndresen, E. M., Malmgren, J. A., Carter, W. B., \u0026amp; Patrick, D. L. (1994). 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General Need for Autonomy and Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis of Studies in the US and East Asia. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Happiness Studies\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e19\u003c/em\u003e(6), 1863\u0026ndash;1882. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9898-2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1007/s10902-017-9898-2\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"motivation-and-emotion","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Motivation and Emotion](https://link.springer.com/journal/11031)","snPcode":"11031","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/11031/3","title":"Motivation and Emotion","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Basic psychological needs, self-determination theory, mental health, students","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7124861/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7124861/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSelf-determination theory posits that there are three basic psychological needs\u0026mdash;autonomy, competence, and relatedness\u0026mdash;that are essential for optimal psychological functioning across cultures and contexts. While past research has consistently demonstrated that satisfying these needs predicts better mental health in diverse countries, less is known about whether this relationship holds for individuals who have relocated to a foreign country. The present study examined whether the satisfaction of each need predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms in students at a large Canadian university, and whether this association was moderated by students\u0026rsquo; sojourner status (international vs. Canadian) and self-reported ethnicity (White vs. Asian). We pooled data from six longitudinal studies conducted between 2014 and 2019 to ensure a large sample size. Results from a hierarchical linear regression demonstrated that the satisfaction of each need significantly and independently predicted against lower levels of depressive symptoms, regardless of ethnicity and sojourner status. A significant interaction emerged between relatedness and sojourner status, indicating that relatedness satisfaction was more strongly associated with reduced depressive symptoms among international students compared to Canadian students. This finding suggests that international students may reap greater mental health benefits from their social networks than local students, potentially due to reduced access to their home support networks during their studies abroad. Overall, the findings support the universality of basic psychological needs and underscore their importance for student well-being, especially among those studying in a foreign country.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Do basic psychological needs know borders? A self-determination theory analysis of Canadian and international students","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-27 06:10:02","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7124861/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"22686371825987848421149628733492982150","date":"2026-05-12T14:51:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"291964019355244357042265835666526513824","date":"2026-05-06T01:18:52+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"178650693323900851151877365551491963804","date":"2026-03-29T13:10:55+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-22T16:47:41+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"141867958976144190601630037878686467519","date":"2025-11-01T20:06:40+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-11-01T08:56:51+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-07-17T14:06:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-07-17T14:05:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Motivation and Emotion","date":"2025-07-14T23:54:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"motivation-and-emotion","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Motivation and Emotion](https://link.springer.com/journal/11031)","snPcode":"11031","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/11031/3","title":"Motivation and Emotion","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"de45d4cb-9607-4cd0-b5c9-6f3815e52f2b","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 27th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"22686371825987848421149628733492982150","date":"2026-05-12T14:51:13+00:00","index":56,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"291964019355244357042265835666526513824","date":"2026-05-06T01:18:52+00:00","index":53,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-01T09:08:28+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-27 06:10:02","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7124861","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7124861","identity":"rs-7124861","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}