What Psychological Structures Can Support the Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs? Attachment Styles, Childhood Maltreatment Experiences, and the Role of Interpersonal Communication Competence

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationships between basic psychological needs, attachment styles, childhood maltreatment experiences, and interpersonal communication competence. The study group consisted of 283 university students. The Need Satisfaction Scale, Three-Dimensional Attachment Styles Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and Interpersonal Communication Competence Inventory were used as measurement tools. According to the correlation analysis findings, need satisfaction was associated with anxious-ambivalent attachment style, avoidant attachment style, physical abuse, emotional abuse, listening skills, social relaxation skills, and expressive skills. The hierarchical regression model included attachment styles in the first step, childhood maltreatment experiences in the second step, and interpersonal communication competence in the third step. Regression analysis results revealed that anxious-ambivalent attachment style, emotional abuse, listening skill, social relaxation skill, and expressive skill accounted for 40.3% of the total variance of need satisfaction. In line with the hierarchical regression analysis findings, it can be stated that the variable with the most robust predictive role is emotional abuse among childhood maltreatment experiences. The present study provides findings that early experiences and communication competence, which can be affected by these experiences, are essential factors in meeting basic psychological needs. Therefore, the results of the study may be effective in psychological interventions that focus on meeting basic psychological needs.