Mental health problems are becoming increasingly prevalent across college campuses. Past research has found that negative affect and frustration of basic psychological needs contribute to the development of depressive symptoms, but there is limited research which compares whether these are antecedents or concomitants of depressive symptoms. The present set of studies aimed to distinguish the differential associations of affect and need frustration on depressive symptoms. Students (N_study1 = 379; N_study2 = 235) completed measures on negative affect, need frustration (e.g., relatedness, competence, and autonomy), and depressive symptoms over an academic year and during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In both samples, fully cross-lagged path models were used to examine the relation between need frustration, negative affect, and depressive symptoms over time. Across both studies, basic psychological need frustration was the only consistent predictor of both negative affect and depressive symptoms over time, suggesting that need frustration is an antecedent of depressive symptoms over time, and especially during vulnerable time periods. Additionally, in Study 2, reports from close others confirm that need frustration is the largest indicator of depressive presentation in students. These results highlight the relative importance of basic psychological need frustration in predicting depressive symptoms in university students.

心理健康问题在大学校园中变得越来越普遍。过去的研究发现，基本心理需求的负面影响和挫败感会导致抑郁症状的发展，但比较这些是抑郁症状的前因还是伴随症状的研究有限。本组研究旨在区分情感和需要沮丧对抑郁症状的不同关联。学生（N _study1  = 379；N _study2 = 235) 在一个学年和 COVID-19 大流行开始期间完成了对负面影响、需要挫折感（例如，相关性、能力和自主性）和抑郁症状的测量。在这两个样本中，完全交叉滞后的路径模型用于检查需求挫折、负面影响和抑郁症状之间的关系。在这两项研究中，基本的心理需求挫折是随着时间推移负面影响和抑郁症状的唯一一致预测因素，这表明需求挫折是随着时间推移出现抑郁症状的先决条件，尤其是在脆弱的时期。此外，在研究 2 中，来自亲密他人的报告证实，需要挫败感是学生抑郁表现的最大指标。