Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465

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Learning and Instruction

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/learninstruc

Co-developmental trajectories of psychological need satisfactions at school:

Relations to mental health and academic functioning in Chinese elementary
school students
Jianhua Zhou a, b, c, d, E. Scott Huebner e, Lili Tian a, b, c, d, *
a
School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, PR China
b
Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, PR China
c
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, PR China
d
Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510631, PR China
e
Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study explored the co-developmental trajectories of autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfac­
Psychological need satisfactions at school tions at school and their relations to mental health and academic functioning in Chinese elementary school
Mental health students. An accelerated longitudinal design was used with a sample of three cohorts (grade 3, grade 4, and grade
Academic functioning
5) (N = 1070, 45.8% female; Mage = 9.44, SD = 0.97) on four occasions at 6-month intervals. Parallel process
Chinese elementary school students
latent class growth models revealed five heterogeneous patterns (i.e., Congruent-moderate; Congruent-high;
Developmental trajectories
Congruent-low; Congruent-decreasing; Low-autonomy, High-competence and relatedness), all of which signifi­
cantly associated with time-varying mental health and academic functioning indicators. The findings highlight
the importance of subgroup differences and possible cultural considerations in understanding the progression of
psychological need satisfactions and the need for universal screening and dynamic monitoring of students’
psychological need satisfactions at school and implementing more sophisticated interventions tailored to the
unique characteristics of the relevant subgroups to promote optimal mental health and learning.

1. Introduction
The elementary school years lay the foundation for subsequent
educational experiences as well as the optimal development of chil­
dren’s mental health and academic ability. Specifically, poor mental
health and low school achievement during the elementary education
period predict psychosocial maladaptation and poor long-term educa­
tional attainment in adolescence and later adulthood (e.g., Feehan,
McGee, Williams, & Nada-Raja, 1995; Mortimer, Staff, & Lee, 2005).
Therefore, it is important to identify key protective factors that help
promote elementary school students’ mental health and academic
functioning.
The satisfaction of basic psychological needs represents one such
imperative protective factor that has received considerable research
attention, particularly within the context of self-determination theory
(SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2017). SDT makes important
assumptions about the nature of social contexts that satisfy universal
and innate psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relat­
edness, and these needs are conceptualized as essential nutrients for
individuals’ growth, integrity, and well-being (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan
& Deci, 2017). Psychological need satisfactions provide the means
through which social contexts influence individual psychological
well-being and functioning (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Thus, although optimal
functioning is likely multiply determined, psychological need satisfac­
tions would operate as a more proximal contributor to students’ mental
health and academic functioning than other social and environmental
factors (e.g., DeHaan, Hirai, & Ryan, 2016). Moreover, SDT posits that
the more important the life domain is to the individual, the more
important the impact of psychological need satisfactions within the
domain (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Given that schooling represents one of
children’s major life contexts (Eccles & Roeser, 2011), the satisfaction of
psychological needs in the school context in particular has been sug­
gested as a major contributor to students’ mental health and academic
functioning (e.g., Ratelle & Duchesne, 2014; Wang, Tian, & Huebner,

* Corresponding author. School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, PR China.
E-mail addresses: paipaishu@163.com, tianlili@m.scnu.edu.cn (L. Tian).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2021.101465
Received 14 November 2019; Received in revised form 1 December 2020; Accepted 21 February 2021
Available online 22 March 2021
0959-4752/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Zhou et al.
2019).
Furthermore, STD points out that although autonomy, competence,
and relatedness need satisfactions are highly interdependent, these need
satisfactions may vary within persons over time (Ryan & Deci, 2017),
exhibiting individual differences in both the initial levels and further
developmental patterns over time (e.g., Ratelle & Duchesne, 2014;
Tóth-Király, Bőthe, Orosz, & Rigó, 2018). Given the changing nature of
students’ capacities and school environments over the course of their
school years, the emergence of distinct co-developmental trajectories in
need satisfactions in school (and associated mental health and academic
outcomes) seems likely. However, the existing studies have mainly
relied on cross-sectional or short-term longitudinal designs (e.g.,
two-wave longitudinal design; daily diary design) along with
variable-centered methodological approaches, limiting their ability to
determine how students’ perceived autonomy, competence, and relat­
edness need satisfactions at school display heterogeneous
co-developmental trajectories and how these trajectories are associated
with their mental health and academic functioning over time. More
specifically, students’ well-satisfied (i.e., high level of) autonomy,
competence, and relatedness needs over time should be associated with
sustained optimal functioning, whereas problematic co-developmental
patterns (e.g., continuous declining or stable low autonomy, compe­
tence and relatedness need satisfactions) should usher in corresponding
deteriorating well-being and academic outcomes over time (e.g., Patall
et al., 2018; Ratelle & Duchesne, 2014; Vandenkerckhove et al., 2019).
Other problematic patterns characterized by one or two unsatisfied need
satisfactions over time, may also be associated with declines in students’
well-being or academic success (e.g., Esdar, Gorges, & Wild, 2016;
Tóth-Király et al., 2018). Focusing on divergent co-developmental pat­
terns of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfactions and
their relations to time-varying mental health and academic functioning,
longitudinal designs using growth mixture modeling techniques (i.e.,
person-centered analysis) should help to achieve a greater understand­
ing of such divergent psychological need satisfactions developmental
courses. Growth mixture modeling is specifically designed to explain
longitudinal heterogeneity by separating a general population into
profiles of students presenting qualitatively and quantitatively different
trajectories; thus, it represents an effective approach to address how
psychological need satisfactions develop over time for specific students
to confirm the heterogeneity of developmental trajectories as well as
address how identified, heterogeneous trajectories relate to mental
health and academic functioning indicators over time (e.g., Gillet et al.,
2019; Grimm, Ram, & Estabrook, 2016).
Moreover, SDT also posits that cultural contexts, namely, the specific
practices, values, and norms of a culture, may vary in the degree to
which they provide supportive opportunities and resources for psycho­
logical need satisfactions (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Thus, psychological
needs might be satisfied in different ways in different cultural contexts
(Ryan & Deci, 2017). However, most of the previous studies have been
conducted in Western societies; there are limits to our knowledge about
the heterogeneous co-developmental patterns of autonomy, compe­
tence, and relatedness need satisfactions at school among elementary
students in China. Therefore, our study employed a longitudinal design
and person-centered analysis to examine how the distinct
co-developmental patterns of autonomy, competence, and relatedness
need satisfactions at school evolve over the middle to the end of the
Chinese elementary school years. Our study also investigated how the
identified, distinct trajectory patterns related to time-varying students’
mental health and academic functioning indicators to better document
the meaningfulness of these trajectories. Theoretically, our study should
yield a more meaningful and comprehensive understanding of the na­
ture of the developmental patterns of psychological need satisfactions
and their relations with elementary school students’ mental health and
learning over time, which should further enrich SDT. Such knowledge
also should yield important practical implications for educational pro­
fessionals to inform the identification of children who displaying
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Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465
problematic developmental patterns and further allocate societal re­
sources efficiently to the development of niche targeting interventions
addressing the unique needs of relevant groups of children to promote
their optimal mental health and academic functioning.
1.1. Theoretical background
SDT posits that there are three basic psychological needs (i.e., au­
tonomy, relatedness, and competence), which must be satisfied to
facilitate optimal development throughout the lifespan (Ryan & Deci,
2017). SDT views all people as affected by the satisfaction of these three
basic psychological needs, and the effects of satisfaction of these needs
should be evidenced regardless of the sociocultural context (e.g., Chen
et al., 2015). Derived from SDT, Tian, Han, and Huebner (2014) further
conceptualized basic psychological need satisfactions at school to
address how students subjectively evaluate the satisfaction of their basic
psychological needs, specifically in the school context. The need for
autonomy refers to students’ need to experience a sense of volition and
self-endorsement of their behavior at school. The need for competence
refers to students’ need to interact effectively with the school environ­
ment and to experience opportunities for developing and expressing
their individual capabilities at school. The need for relatedness refers to
students’ need to experience a sense of school belonging, including a
sense of connection with teachers and classmates.
More tellingly for the current study, SDT explicitly points out that
“basic psychological need satisfactions, as necessary aspects of optimal
functioning, are clearly not only individual difference variables but are
also dynamic variables, affected in the moment by both historical and
contextual variations and factors” (Ryan & Deci, 2017, p. 245). Psy­
chological need satisfactions thus may change within persons over time,
contexts, and social interactions (Ryan & Deci, 2017). The
stage-environment fit hypothesis (Eccles, 2004) posits that schools are
systems characterized by multiple levels of regulatory processes (orga­
nizational, social, and instructional in nature) that regulate students’
cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioral development, and these
processes may change as students move through different school levels.
Thus, students’ perceived need satisfactions at school should partly
fluctuate with variations in the school environment over time (e.g.,
Krijgsman et al., 2019; Ratelle & Duchesne, 2014).
Although the basic psychological need satisfactions of autonomy,
competence, and relatedness tend to be highly interdependent, SDT
theory recognizes that not all individuals will experience comparable
levels of need satisfactions (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Previous cross-sectional
studies have indeed revealed heterogeneous profiles of need satisfac­
tions, including some profiles showing unbalanced need satisfaction,
that is, showing differing levels of the satisfaction of each need (e.g.,
high-competence, low-autonomy and relatedness) along with profiles
showing balanced levels of the satisfaction of each need (e.g., all
high/low) (e.g., Tóth-Király et al., 2018; Vanhove-Meriaux, Martinent,
& Ferrand, 2018). To summarize, students’ perceived need satisfactions
for autonomy, competence, and relatedness at school should display
heterogeneous co-developmental patterns over time.
Furthermore, insofar as needs are deemed essential to optimal
functioning and well-being, SDT further suggests that variations in
psychological need satisfactions will predict time-variations in optimal
functioning and well-being indicators over time (Ryan & Deci, 2017). A
growing amount of evidence has supported this proposition regarding
the association between fluctuations in well-being and educational
outcomes and within-person variations in psychological need satisfac­
tions over time, focusing, for example, on day-to-day (or longer time
intervals) fluctuations in need satisfactions (e.g., Gillet et al., 2019;
Patall et al., 2018; Ryan, Bernstein, & Brown, 2010; Vandenkerckhove
et al., 2019). Therefore, the variations in co-developmental trajectories
of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfactions at school
should relate to corresponding variations in students’ mental health and
academic functioning indicators over time.
J. Zhou et al.
1.2. Developmental changes in basic psychological need satisfactions
Thus far, the literature has included only two studies that have
examined heterogeneous developmental patterns of students’ psycho­
logical need satisfactions using person-centered analyses. In the most
recent study, Gillet et al. (2019) conducted a 3-wave longitudinal study
over one school semester to examine the distinct profiles of develop­
mental trajectories of global psychological need satisfaction using a
bifactor measurement model among 461 first-year undergraduates in a
French university. Growth mixture model analysis revealed three
distinct trajectories: moderate-decreasing, low-decreasing, and
moderate-increasing. In another study by Ratelle and Duchesne (2014),
609 adolescent students from Canada were investigated annually for six
years throughout the secondary school period. Results of the
group-based trajectory modeling revealed that these three needs
demonstrated the presence of substantial developmental heterogeneity.
Specifically, each need satisfaction revealed four distinct developmental
patterns respectively. Similar to the increasing global need satisfaction
trajectory revealed by Gillet et al. (2019), Ratelle and Duchesne (2014)
found that autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfactions all
showed at least one or two increasing trajectories; and partly consistent
with Gillet et al. (2019) who found two decreasing global need satis­
faction trajectories, Ratelle and Duchesne (2014) only revealed
decreasing trajectories for autonomy and competence need satisfactions,
along with two stable trajectories for relatedness need satisfaction.
Nevertheless, the two aforementioned studies are difficult to compare or
aggregate, given their differences in key variables (i.e., global need
satisfaction vs. separate need satisfactions) and samples (i.e., university
students vs. secondary students). Furthermore, a prominent limitation of
these two studies was that they excluded consideration of the
co-development of autonomy, competence and relatedness need satis­
factions among elementary school students.
The developmental patterns of need satisfactions in elementary
school students could differ from those revealed in secondary school and
university students. For one possible explanation of such differences,
previous research suggests that elementary school students tend to be
exposed to a more stable environment, their need satisfactions thus seem
to be more stable compared to older students (e.g., Cheon, Reeve, &
Song, 2016; Gillet et al., 2019; Marchand & Skinner, 2007; Ratelle &
Duchesne, 2014). Furthermore, given that elementary school learning is
more typically mandatory relative to the nature of secondary and uni­
versity education, and given that elementary school students’ learning
relies greatly on the authority of teachers, elementary school students
would thus be to exposed to fewer opportunities for self-determination
than secondary school and university students. Thus, it is reasonable
to expect that compared to competence and relatedness need satisfac­
tions, the autonomy need satisfaction of some elementary school stu­
dents may be relatively low, thus displaying an unbalanced need
satisfactions trajectory over time.
Given the limitations of the aforementioned, relevant studies (i.e.,
Gillet et al., 2019; Ratelle & Duchesne, 2014), our study addressed these
gaps by examining the co-developmental patterns of autonomy,
competence, and relatedness need satisfactions at school among Chinese
elementary school students. Because of the exploratory nature of these
approaches, no hypotheses were specifically formulated regarding the
specific number and shape of the co-developmental trajectories.
Nevertheless, we could anticipate the shapes of some possible trajec­
tories in light of previous research.
First, previous variable-centered studies have revealed that reports
of need satisfaction for autonomy, competence, and relatedness typi­
cally correlated highly with each other (e.g., Marchand & Skinner, 2007;
Ratelle & Duchesne, 2014; Tian et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2019). Simi­
larly, several person-centered studies have also shown that these three
need satisfactions tend to be highly interrelated, revealing three com­
mon profile configurations: equally low, moderate, and high levels of
satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs in different
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Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465
contexts (e.g., education, work, or general) across different samples (e.
g., youngsters, young adults, elderly people) (e.g., Hawkins, Kalin, &
Waldron, 2014; Tóth-Király et al., 2018; Vanhove-Meriaux et al., 2018).
Moreover, several longitudinal studies with children and adolescents
indicated a moderate to high level of rank order stability (r = 0.33 to
0.69) for the three psychological need satisfactions reports (e.g., Cheon
et al., 2016; Cox, Smith, & Williams, 2008; Marchand & Skinner, 2007).
Thus, the high, moderate, and low levels of psychological need satis­
factions may remain stable over time to a certain extent. Therefore,
autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfactions at school
may display multiple congruent and balanced co-development patterns.
Specifically, three co-developmental trajectories may exist: all
high-stable, all moderate-stable and all low-stable groups.
Furthermore, an accelerated longitudinal study using a latent growth
curve model revealed that the overall levels of all autonomy, compe­
tence, and relatedness need satisfactions showed decreases among
children and adolescents (11–16 years old) (Gnambs & Hanfstingl,
2016). Additional prospective studies also revealed decreasing trends
for autonomy (e.g., Marchand & Skinner, 2007), competence (e.g.,
Fredricks & Eccles, 2002), and relatedness need satisfactions (e.g.,
Davidson, Gest, & Welsh, 2010) at the overall level during childhood
and adolescence, when examined independently. Therefore, a subgroup
of students who displays a co-decreasing trajectory of autonomy,
competence, and relatedness need satisfactions at school may also be
identified.
Another consideration involves the generalizability of findings
across culture and social contexts. SDT researchers have acknowledged
that different cultural and social contents may provide different op­
portunities and resources for need satisfactions, and that psychological
needs can be satisfied in different ways, conforming to the values,
practices, and norms of different cultural contexts (e.g., Chen et al.,
2015; Ryan & Deci, 2017). SDT also posits a universal need for auton­
omy, yet recognizes that autonomy is not always similarly valued or
understood across cultural contexts (e.g., Cheng, Shu, Zhou, & Lam,
2016; Marbell & Grolnick, 2013; Ryan & Deci, 2017). For example,
Devine, Camfield, and Gough (2008) noted that Bangladesh also have
autonomy needs, but expressing autonomy needs in their cultural
context is often constrained because autonomy is not strongly supported
in their culture. Church et al. (2013) further revealed that Asian par­
ticipants typically report lower satisfaction of autonomy needs than
non-Asian participants. With respect to cultural and developmental
considerations, elementary school students are in the preliminary
developmental phase of self-consciousness (Collins & Kuczaj, 1991) ,
which is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the desire for
self-determination, and which develops within the context of the Chi­
nese traditional culture. The Chinese traditional culture emphasizes the
authority of teachers who typically employ more a highly controlling
style of teaching compared to the informative and non-evaluative
teaching styles that emphasize autonomy support strategies, such as
offering students’ choices and providing rationales for instructional
activities and student behavior (e.g., Yu, Chen, Levesque-Bristol, &
Vansteenkiste, 2018; Zhou, Lam, & Chan, 2012). This traditional
orientation to instruction continues in Chinese elementary schools
despite the fact that controlling teaching styles are not conducive to the
satisfaction for autonomy needs at school (e.g., Wuyts, Chen, Van­
steenkiste, & Soenens, 2015; Zhou et al., 2012). Furthermore, consistent
with the exam-oriented educational focus in Chinese schools, the
attainment of academic achievement is one of the most important tasks
for school-aged students, even as early as elementary school (e.g., Yu
et al., 2018). Teachers thus consistently provide sufficient structure
incorporating clear rules, guidelines, and optimally challenging tasks to
effectively improve students’ academic competence, which primarily
contributes to the satisfaction of students’ competence needs at school.
Additionally, in the Chinese traditional Confucian culture, people are
expected to benefit from a more interpersonal mode of functioning (e.g.,
Uchida & Kitayama, 2009). Teachers and peers thus also strongly
J. Zhou et al.
emphasize the cultivation of involvement in caring and harmonious
relationships, which should contribute substantially to the satisfaction
of students’ relatedness needs. Therefore, the competence and related­
ness need satisfactions in most Chinese elementary students should
remain at a relatively high level over time whereas autonomy needs may
be partially unsatisfied for some students. Thus, it is reasonable to expect
the identification of a subgroup of students who displays an unbalanced
co-developmental pattern characterized by autonomy needs that are
satisfied to a relatively lower degree than their relatedness and
competence needs over time.
1.3. Basic psychological need satisfactions at school and students’ mental
health and academic functioning
In the domain of schooling, variable-centered studies have high­
lighted the significance of psychological need satisfactions for students’
mental health and educational success. On the one hand, studies
examining the three psychological need satisfactions separately (i.e.,
using single scores for the three needs) or globally (i.e., using a latent
factor representing the three needs or the total score for the three needs),
have demonstrated that the satisfaction of each of the three needs or
global need satisfaction contributes to the prediction of better mental
health, including higher levels of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and pro­
social behaviors (e.g., Cheon, Reeve, & Ntoumanis, 2018; Milyavskaya
et al., 2009; Nishimura & Suzuki, 2016; Podlog, Lochbaum, & Stevens,
2010; Shiraki & Igarashi, 2018), and lower levels of psychological
distress (e.g., depression) and antisocial behaviors (e.g., Bolter & Kipp,
2018; Emery, Toste, & Heath, 2015). On the other hand, studies have
shown that satisfaction of the three psychological needs also separately
or globally predicts academic functioning, operationalized as high levels
of school engagement and academic achievement (e.g., Cerasoli, Nick­
lin, & Nassrelgrgawi, 2016; Wang et al., 2019). Therefore, to the extent
that students perceive their psychological needs at school as being
well-satisfied, they will experience benefits to their mental health and
academic functioning.
Moreover, the study of Gillet et al. (2019) contrasted a variety of
time-varying indicators (i.e., positive affect, negative affect, effort, ac­
ademic achievement) across the developmental profiles of global psy­
chological need satisfaction, with the results revealing that the positive
developmental profile (i.e., moderate-increasing) was consistently
associated with more positive outcomes whereas the negative develop­
mental profiles (i.e., moderate-decreasing, and low-decreasing) dis­
played more negative consequences over time. Similarly, Ratelle and
Duchesne (2014) also examined the effects of separate developmental
trajectories of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfac­
tions on academic, social, and emotional functioning. Overall, for each
need, the highest functioning scores were observed for students with
high levels of need satisfactions or an increasing trajectory, followed by
those with moderate levels of need satisfactions, and finally, those with
low levels of need satisfactions. Summarizing the above findings, it is
reasonable to expect that a co-developmental trajectory characterized
by higher levels of autonomy, relatedness, and competence need satis­
factions at school would be associated with the more optimal mental
health and academic functioning indicators over time, whereas prob­
lematic developmental patterns characterized by lower and/or by
decreasing levels of all three need satisfactions would be associated with
the least desirable or gradually worsening mental health and academic
functioning over time. Additionally, previous studies also found that
students who experienced unbalanced need satisfactions displayed
impaired mental health and academic functioning (e.g., Esdar et al.,
2016; Schmahl & Walper, 2012; Sheldon & Niemiec, 2006; Tóth-Király
et al., 2018). Given the indispensable role of autonomy need satisfaction
in well-being and academic achievement (e.g., Cerasoli et al., 2016; Ng
et al., 2012; for meta-analyses), the developmental trajectories charac­
terized by unbalanced psychological need satisfactions at school (i.e.,
low autonomy, high competence, and relatedness) would be expected to
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Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465
be associated with impaired mental health and academic functioning,
compared to the most optimal group (i.e., all high group).
1.4. The current study
This study addressed two major aims. First, given that neither the
examination of the development of global needs satisfaction nor the
examination of the three psychological needs separately would precisely
reveal the nature of co-development patterns of need satisfactions, our
study aimed to identify the co-developmental trajectories of autonomy,
competence, and relatedness need satisfactions at school among Chinese
elementary school students. We expected that five heterogeneous tra­
jectories would exist: all high-stable, all moderate-stable, all low-stable,
all-decreasing, and an unbalanced group (i.e., low-autonomy, high
competence and relatedness).
Second, given that SDT and previous studies both suggested that
variations in psychological need satisfactions will also produce varia­
tions in well-being and academic functioning over time, our study
sought to clarify further the relations between the extracted develop­
mental trajectories and time-varying mental health and academic in­
dicators to better support the meaningfulness of the resulting
trajectories. In this study, measures of life satisfaction, self-esteem,
depression, and externalizing behaviors were selected as the indicators
of mental health. Measures of academic achievement and school
engagement were selected as the indicators of academic functioning.
2. Method
2.1. Participants
For this longitudinal study, two elementary schools were randomly
selected through the local education authorities in a city located in south
China. The sample was drawn from 30 classes within these two schools.
Notably, in China, the elementary school system includes grades 1
through 6, and there are two semesters (first and second semesters) in a
school year. All of the students in the first semester of grades 3, 4, and 5
from these two schools were invited to participate (10 classes in each
grade). The number of students ranged from 27 to 42 in each regular
classroom. Overall student participation rates were close to 98% in each
school. The students participated in assessments in the middle of four
consecutive semesters (i.e., at four time points) across two years, with
six-month assessment intervals.
At baseline, the participants included 1070 students (Mage = 9.44,
SD = 0.97; 45.8% female). Of the participants, 33.8% were in Grade 3
(Mage = 8.49; SD = 0.60), 33.0% were in Grade 4 (Mage = 9.44; SD =
0.58), and 33.2% were in Grade 5 (Mage = 10.40; SD = 0.54). Almost all
of the participants were from middle-income families with parents who
had earned at least a middle school degree. A total of 930 elementary
school students participated at Time 2 (T2), 924 at Time 3 (T3), and 965
at Time 4 (T4). A total of 783 students completed the questionnaires on
all four occasions. There were two possible reasons for attrition: (1) The
students transferred to other schools; (2) the students were absent from
school on the day of the assessment. Using Little’s (1988) Missing
Completely at Random (MCAR) test, we compared participants with and
without complete data across four time points. The MCAR test revealed a
normed χ 2/df of 1.28, which indicated a good fit between sample scores
with and without imputations (Bollen, 1989), suggesting that data were
likely missing at random.
2.2. Research design
This study used a 4-wave longitudinal accelerated design. The
accelerated longitudinal design links adjacent segments of limited lon­
gitudinal data from different cohorts to determine the common under­
lying developmental trend, producing temporally overlapping
measurements of the adjacent groups, and then linking the segments of
J. Zhou et al.
limited longitudinal data from different cohorts and creating a common
long-term developmental trend (e.g., Miyazaki & Raudenbush, 2000).
This approach requires a re-organized dataset in such a way that each
participant (i.e., each line) is specified as having eight measurement
points in the current study (instead of four waves), with four of those
waves being missing by design. In our study, psychological need satis­
factions scores (T1-T4) from three longitudinal cohorts (grade 3, grade
4, and grade 5) were used to estimate a range of trajectory points from
the first semester of grade 3 to the second semester of grade 6 (see
Fig. 1). Thus, in this design, each student had eight measurements rep­
resenting psychological need satisfactions scores. Four of the measure­
ments reflected missing values, and the other four measurements
reflected true responses from consecutive observations. For all three
cohorts (grade 3, grade 4, and grade 5), the mental health and academic
functioning scores were assessed at T1 through T4 (see Fig. 1).
The fundamental concern of the accelerated longitudinal design is
data “missing by design” (Duncan, Duncan, & Hops, 1996), which, ac­
cording to Little and Rubin’s typology of missing data, is considered
missing completely at random (Little & Rubin, 1989). Full information
maximum likelihood (FIML) was applied to handle missing data. FIML is
a common and appropriate approach for use in accelerated longitudinal
studies that uses all available information from the participants at each
time point (e.g., Duncan & Duncan, 2012).
2.3. Procedure
The study was approved by the relevant school boards, principals,
and teachers. The study was also approved by the Human Research
Committee of South China Normal University. We informed students
and their parents about the study, and we obtained student assent and
parental consent prior to the data collection. In the middle of each se­
mester, the students completed the self-report questionnaires (Chinese
versions). Measures were administered by a trained graduate assistant in
the regular classroom setting. The students could take as much time as
needed to respond to the measures. Participants were assured of the
strict confidentiality of the collected data, and only research personnel
had access to the completed questionnaires. In addition, assistants
emphasized the importance of honest and accurate self-reporting for the
study. The participants all received identical verbal and written in­
structions from the assistant. Tracking the individual participants across
time was made possible by a specific code assigned to each student to
protect their identity.
Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of the accelerated longitudinal design.
Note. G = Grade; F = First semester; S = Second semester, T = Time. Solid boxes represent collected data, whereas dashed lines reflect data missing by design.
5
Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465
2.4. Measures
2.4.1. Basic psychological need satisfactions at school (BPNSS)
BPNSS was measured using the Adolescent Students’ Basic Psycho­
logical Need Satisfactions at School Scale (ASBPNSSS; Tian et al., 2014).
This measure included three subscales with five items respectively:
Autonomy (e.g., “I feel like I can pretty much be myself at school.”),
Relatedness (e.g., “I really like my teachers and classmates at school.”)
and Competence (e.g., “I am capable of learning new knowledge at
school.”). Response options reflected a 6-point Likert scale ranging from
1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). The mean score for each sub­
scale was calculated; higher scores represented higher need satisfac­
tions. The ASBPNSSS has shown good reliability and validity with
Chinese elementary school students (Tian, Zhang, & Huebner, 2018;
Wang et al., 2019). In this study, the MacDonald ω coefficients for the
three subscales of ASBPNSSS ranged from 0.79 to 0.93 across T1 to T4.
2.4.2. Mental health indicators
Life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was measured using the Brief
Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) (Seligson,
Huebner, & Valois, 2003). The BMSLSS consists of five items, each
representing one of five life satisfaction domains important to children
(e.g., “I would describe my satisfaction with my family as…”). The
BMSLSS uses a 7-point response option ranging from 1 (terrible) to 7
(delighted). The mean score on the BMSLSS represents general or overall
life satisfaction. Higher scores indicated higher life satisfaction. Evi­
dence has suggested good psychometric properties with Chinese
elementary school students (e.g., Nie, Tian, & Huebner, 2019; Tian,
Zhang, & Huebner, 2015). In this study, the MacDonald ω coefficients
for the BMSLSS ranged from 0.73 to 0.84 across T1 to T4.
Self-esteem. Self-esteem was measured using Rosenberg’s Self-
Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965; Wang, Wang, & Ma, 1999), which
consists of 10 self-report items. Items were rated on a 4-point Likert
scale, with response options ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4
(strongly agree) (e.g., “I feel that I’m a person of worth, at least on an
equal plane with others.”). This scale has shown adequate support for its
reliability and validity with Chinese elementary school students (e.g.,
Yang, Tian, Huebner, & Zhu, 2019). Total scores were calculated with
higher scores indicating higher self-esteem. In this study, the MacDonald
ω coefficients for the Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale ranged from 0.86 to
0.90 across T1 to T4.
Depression. Depression was measured using the Depression Self-
Rating Scale for Children (DSRSC; Birleson, 1981). The DSRSC consists
of 18 self-report items (e.g., “I don’t think life is interesting.”). Partici­
pants were asked to respond using a 3-point scale, ranging from 0 (never)
J. Zhou et al.
to 2 (often). Total scores were calculated with higher scores indicating a
stronger disposition toward experiencing depression. The DSRSC has
shown adequate support for its reliability and validity with Chinese
elementary school students (e.g., Su, Wang, Zhu, Luo, & Yang, 2003). In
this study, the MacDonald ω coefficients for the DSRSC ranged from 0.85
to 0.87 across T1 to T4.
Externalizing behaviors. Externalizing behaviors were measured
using the Antisocial Behaviors subscale from the Child Social Behaviors
Scale developed by Chen (2008). It consists of five self-report items
describing some common behavioral problems in children (e.g.,
fighting, bullying classmates). Participants were asked to respond using
a 4-point scale, ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (often). This scale has shown
adequate support for its reliability and validity with Chinese elementary
school students (e.g., Tian et al., 2018). The mean score was calculated
with higher scores indicating more externalizing behaviors. In this
study, the MacDonald ω coefficients for the Antisocial Behaviors sub­
scale ranged from 0.78 to 0.85 across T1 to T4.
2.4.3. Academic functioning indicators
School engagement. Cognitive engagement and behavioral
engagement were measured in this study using the respective subscales
from the School Engagement Scale (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, Friedel, &
Paris, 2005). The subscale of Cognitive Engagement consists of seven
items (e.g., “I will think when I read to make sure I understand the
content of the book.”). The subscale of Behavioral Engagement consists
of five items (e.g., “I finish my homework on time.”). Items were rated
on a 4-point scale, with response options ranging from 1 (completely
disagree) to 4 (completely agree). The mean score for the two subscales
combined was calculated with higher scores indicating greater school
engagement. The School Engagement Scale has shown adequate support
for its reliability and validity when used with Chinese elementary school
students (e.g., Yi, Tian, & Huebner, 2019). In this study, the MacDonald
ω coefficients for the two subscales ranged from 0.69 to 0.89 across the
four time points.
Academic achievement. At the end of each semester, students’
performances in Chinese, mathematics, and English were separately
rated by their teachers of the corresponding subjects. Responses
involved five levels, ranging from 1 (fail) to 5 (excellent). Given that the
teachers in each class were different, teacher-rated scores on the three
subjects were standardized within each class and then averaged to form
a single index of academic achievement. In our study, the MacDonald ω
coefficients for the ratings across teachers ranged from 0.78 to 0.82
across T1 to T4.
2.5. Analytic strategy
2.5.1. Preliminary analyses
Descriptive statistics for the study variables by three cohorts were
reported, including the means and standard deviations. The correlations
among the variables were analyzed by SPSS 21.0. All of the models
estimated in the present study were estimated via Mplus 8.
2.5.2. Longitudinal measurement invariance
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess measurement
invariance for all variables across the four measurement times, except
for teacher-rated academic achievement because it represented objec­
tive data. Configural, metric, scalar, and error variance invariance were
assessed for these variables. Model fit was assessed by the chi-square
statistic, the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), the Tucker-Lewis Index
(TLI), and the root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA).
Model fit was considered acceptable if the CFI and TLI were close to or
above 0.90 and the RMSEA was less than 0.08 (Hu & Bentler, 1999).
Because χ2 is greatly affected by sample size, we referred to the more
sensitive differential fit index approach, with a difference in CFI that did
not exceed a threshold of 0.01 considered indicative of invariant mea­
surements (Cheung & Rensvold, 2002).
6
Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465
2.5.3. Latent class growth model analyses
Parallel process latent growth curve modeling (PP-LGCM) was first
estimated to determine the overall shape (linear or quadratic) of the co-
developmental trajectories of autonomy, competence, and relatedness
need satisfactions. This approach provided guidelines for subsequent
latent class growth model (PP-LCGM) analyses. The mean scores for
each need satisfaction were used to carry out the PP-LGCM and subse­
quent PP-LCGM analyses. PP-LCGM includes a growth part summarizing
a series of repeated measures by the estimation of growth factors (i.e.,
random intercepts and slope factors) for autonomy, relatedness, and
competence need satisfactions reflecting, respectively, the initial level of
the growth trajectories and the rate of change over time. In the present
study, time codes on the slope factors were set to 0–7 to allow the
intercept factors to reflect need satisfactions levels at the initial time
point, and to reflect the presence of eight equally spaced measurement
points. Linear PP-LCGA also includes a mixture model part in which the
latent class variable is defined by the growth factors of autonomy,
relatedness, and competence need satisfactions simultaneously. PP-
LCGM specified that the variance estimates for the intercept and slope
parameters were zero within each profile (i.e., all individuals within a
profile followed the same latent trajectory) and the associations between
growth parameters were also zero within profiles. At each time point,
autonomy, relatedness, and competence need satisfactions were fixed to
be correlated. To avoid converging on a local maxima, PP-LCGM models
were estimated using 10,000 random sets of start values, 1000 itera­
tions, and 500 solutions for final stage optimization (Hipp & Bauer,
2006). Because the participants were nested within classes, the COM­
PLEX MIXTURE and CLUSTER command was employed in PP-LGCM and
PP-LCGM for addressing violations of independence assumptions related
to the clustering nature of the data, thereby achieving robust standard
errors. The robust maximum likelihood (MLR) was used to estimate
PP-LGCM and PP-LCGM. PP-LCGM were estimated for two-profile
through seven-profile solutions.
Evaluation of the best fitting models was based on the following
criteria: (1) low Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian In­
formation Criterion (BIC) scores; (2) high entropy (>0.80); (3) statisti­
cally significant Lo-Mendel-Rubin Likelihood Ratio Test (LMR-LRT); and
(4) high average latent class probabilities (>0.70) (e.g., Wickrama, Lee,
O’Neal, & Lorenz, 2016). More importantly, extant research findings
and theoretical justification as well as the usefulness and interpretability
of the trajectories were considered.
Finally, following determination of the number of trajectories, we
examined how the extracted latent profiles explained the time-varying
mental health and academic functioning indicators over time. The
mean or total scores of mental health and academic functioning in­
dicators were used in the model. The Auxiliary (BCH) function in Mplus
was used to estimate the associations between profiles and the contin­
uous mental health and academic indicators in a single step without
allowing them to change the nature of the profiles (Asparouhov &
Muthén, 2014). In this conditional model, the statistical model simul­
taneously assigned individuals to trajectory groups and estimated if the
trajectory groups differed across the mental health and academic func­
tioning indicators. The MPLUS syntax is provided in Appendix 4 in the
supplementary material.
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive analysis
Means and standard deviations for the study variables by three co­
horts and four waves are reported (see Table 1). Correlations between
autonomy, relatedness, and competence need satisfactions at each time
point are reported in Table 2. Correlations among each need satisfaction
and all mental health and academic functioning indicators at each time
point are reported in Tables S1–S4 in Appendix 1 of the online supple­
mentary materials.
J. Zhou et al. Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465

Table 1 longitudinal measurement invariance tests, please see Appendix 2 of the

Descriptive statistics for the variables by cohorts and time points. online supplementary materials.
Time 1 M Time 2 M Time 3 M Time 4 M
(SD) (SD) (SD) (SD) 3.3. Parallel process latent class growth model
Grade 3 G3 F (n = G3 S (n = G4 F (n = G4 S (n =
362) 322) 300) 322) Results of the PP-LGCA indicated that the quadratic model did not
Autonomy 3.98 (1.48) 4.13 (1.55) 4.20 (1.55) 4.48 (1.43) display convergence and the linear model was properly estimated. Thus,
Competence 5.14 (0.89) 5.22 (0.97) 5.20 (1.13) 5.37 (0.83)
we retained the linear model to examine the PP-LCGA. Next, we esti­
Relatedness 5.43 (0.86) 5.44 (0.93) 5.37 (1.10) 5.47 (0.90)
Life satisfaction 6.54 (0.74) 6.59 (0.76) 6.54 (0.85) 6.59 (0.77) mated the PP-LCGMs under a linear pattern of growth model. Under the
Self-esteem 31.76 34.39 34.43 34.81 linear PP-LCGMs, the AIC, BIC, and ABIC continuously decreased as the
(6.19) (5.83) (6.38) (5.78) number of trajectory groups increased, and the results of the LMR-LRT
Depression 9.20 (6.74) 6.59 (5.55) 6.97 (5.88) 6.71 (5.90) for the seven models were all statistically significant (see Table 3).
Externalizing 1.29 (0.43) 1.32 (0.52) 1.31 (0.50) 1.30 (0.45)
behaviors
The AIC, BIC, and ABIC for the five-group model were significantly
School engagement 3.30 (0.62) 3.51 (0.51) 3.47 (0.60) 3.53 (0.54) lower than the four-group model. In addition, compared with the four-
Academic 0.00 (0.84) 0.00 (0.85) 0.00 (0.81) 0.00 (0.85) group model, the five-group model added a group of “Congruent-
achievement decreasing”, which appeared to represent a meaningful class. However,
the six-group model added a group that was similar to an existing group
Grade 4 G4 F (n = G4 S (n = G5 F (n = G5 S (n =
353) 301) 337) 327) (i.e., Congruent-moderate) in the five-group model. Thus, we concluded
Autonomy 4.13 (1.37) 4.40 (1.26) 4.60 (1.45) 4.57 (1.40) that the five-group solution was more appropriate than the four and six-
Competence 5.01 (0.88) 5.10 (0.95) 5.21 (1.06) 5.19 (1.05) group solutions. The average latent class probabilities for the most likely
Relatedness 5.47 (0.73) 5.39 (0.91) 5.45 (0.98) 5.37 (0.95) class membership ranged from .86 to .95, further demonstrating the
Life satisfaction 6.49 (0.73) 6.51 (0.81) 6.59 (0.75) 6.52 (0.78)
robustness of the five-group solution.
Self-esteem 32.97 33.49 34.19 33.92
(5.49) (5.72) (5.52) (5.77) The characteristics of the five profiles were as follows (see Fig. 2).
Depression 7.04 (4.81) 7.11 (5.52) 7.28 (5.54) 7.21 (5.54) Profile 1 (19%, Congruent-moderate) included students who reported
Externalizing 1.29 (0.36) 1.30 (0.41) 1.31 (0.37) 1.35 (0.45) initially moderate and stable autonomy (MI = 3.96, p = 0.000; MS =
behaviors
0.05, p = 0.32), relatedness (MI = 4.83, p = 0.000; MS = 0.01, p = 0.81),
School engagement 3.37 (0.48) 3.41 (0.51) 3.41 (0.56) 3.40 (0.56)
Academic 0.00 (0.88) 0.00 (0.85) 0.00 (0.85) 0.00 (0.86) and competence need satisfaction (MI = 4.44, p = 0.000; MS = 0.04, p =
achievement 0.19); Profile 2 (51%, Congruent-high) included students who reported
initially high and slightly increasing autonomy (MI = 4.63, p = 0.000;
Grade 5 G5 F (n = G5 S (n = G6 F (n = G6 S (n = MS = 0.12, p = 0.000), initially high and stable relatedness (MI = 5.78, p
355) 307) 287) 316)
= 0.000; MS = − 0.001, p = 0.89), and initially high and slightly
Autonomy 3.85 (1.44) 4.11 (1.42) 4.36 (1.48) 4.47 (1.41)
Competence 4.93 (0.97) 4.94 (0.96) 5.20 (0.93) 5.10 (1.03) increasing competence need satisfaction (MI = 5.51, p = 0.000; MS =
Relatedness 5.23 (0.96) 5.23 (0.93) 5.36 (0.90) 5.30 (0.91) 0.03, p = 0.02); Profile 3 (6%, Congruent-low) included students who
Life satisfaction 6.34 (0.81) 6.31 (1.03) 6.54 (0.71) 6.39 (0.90) reported initially low and stable autonomy need satisfaction (MI = 2.74,
Self-esteem 32.20 32.28 33.60 33.14
p = 0.000; MS = 0.03, p = 0.69), initially low and slightly increasing
(5.49) (6.22) (5.54) (5.43)
Depression 8.46 (5.58) 8.08 (6.07) 7.01 (5.39) 7.54 (5.87)
relatedness (MI = 03.17, p = 0.000; MS = 0.18, p = 0.001), initially low
Externalizing 1.39 (0.49) 1.48 (0.52) 1.37 (0.45) 1.39 (0.47) and stable competence (MI = 3.05, p = 0.000; MS = 0.10, p = 0.13);
behaviors Profile 4 (5%, Congruent-decreasing) included students who reported
School engagement 3.35 (0.59) 3.25 (0.62) 3.40 (0.53) 3.35 (0.59) initially high and sharply decreasing autonomy (MI = 4.12, p = 0.000;
Academic 0.00 (0.85) 0.00 (0.84) 0.00 (0.84) 0.00 (0.85)
MS = − 0.33, p = 0.001), relatedness (MI = 5.68, p = 0.000; MS = − 0.49,
achievement
p = 0.000), and competence need satisfaction (MI = 5.42, p = 0.000; MS
Note. G = Grade; F=First semester; S=Second semester. = − 0.44, p = 0.000); Profile 5 (19%, Low-autonomy, High-competence
and relatedness) included students who reported initially low and
slightly increasing autonomy (MI = 2.52, p = 0.000; MS = 0.15, p =
Table 2
0.003), but initially high and stable relatedness (MI = 5.63, p = 0.000;
Correlations between each need satisfaction at each time point.
MS = − 0.003, p = 0.88) and competence need satisfaction (MI = 5.25, p
Time 1 1 2 Time 2 1 2 = 0.000; MS = 0.01, p = 0.61).
1. Autonomy – 1. Autonomy –
2. Relatedness 0.25*** – 2. Relatedness 0.41*** – 3.4. Time-varying mental health and academic functioning indicators
3. Competence 0.32*** 0.56*** 3. Competence 0.43*** 0.65***

Time 3 Time 4 Results from the comparisons of the time-specific mental health and
1. Autonomy – 1. Autonomy – academic functioning indicators across profiles of the PP-LCGM are re­
2. Relatedness 0.44*** – 2. Relatedness 0.47*** – ported in Table 4. The accurate p values and effect sizes (Cohen’s d) are
3. Competence 0.48*** 0.77*** 3. Competence 0.51*** 0.73***

Note. ***p < 0.001. Table 3

Fit indices for parallel process latent class growth models.
3.2. Longitudinal measurement invariance AIC BIC ABIC Entropy LMR-LRT

2 Classes 32349.59 32533.68 32416.16 0.92 <0.001

Findings of the CFA indicated that metric invariance for the 3 Classes 31529.00 31747.92 31608.17 0.84 <0.001
depression measure was established, and error variance invariance for 4 Classes 31047.93 31301.67 31139.69 0.85 <0.001
the externalizing behaviors measure was established, while scalar 5 Classes 30782.74 31071.31 30887.09 0.86 < 0.001
invariance for the other measures was established. According to Little’s 6 Classes 30632.90 30956.31 30749.85 0.85 <0.001
7 Classes 30529.85 30888.08 30659.39 0.84
suggestion for demonstrating measurement invariance, metric invari­
<0.001

ance is required for reliably examining across-time associations between Note. AIC = Akaike information criteria; BIC=Bayesian information criteria;
variables (Little, 2013). For more details and the results of the ABIC = Sample size adjusted BIC; BLRT=Bootstrap likelihood ratio test. Bold
indicates final class solution.

7
J. Zhou et al.
Fig. 2. Estimated means of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfactions of the five latent profiles.
Note. Y-axis indicates the means of needs satisfactions. X-axis indicates the time (i.e., grades). G = Grade; F = First semester; S = Second semester.
reported in Table S6 in Appendix 3 of the supplementary materials. The
students in the Congruent-high profile showed the highest levels of
positive mental health and academic functioning indicators and the
lowest levels of negative mental health indicators, followed by those
with Congruent-moderate levels of need satisfactions, and finally those
with Congruent-low levels of need satisfactions. In addition, noteworthy
changes over time were apparent for most indicators in the Congruent-
decreasing profile. For example, for life satisfaction, the Congruent-
decreasing and Congruent-moderate profiles displayed non-
statistically significant differences at T1, T2 and T3, but displayed sta­
tistically significant differences at T4; and the levels of life satisfaction of
the Congruent-decreasing and Congruent-low profiles displayed statis­
tically significant differences at T1, but displayed non-statistically sig­
nificant differences at T2, T3, and T4. Similar trends were revealed for
scores on the other mental health and academic functioning measures.
Moreover, the Low-autonomy, High-competence and relatedness profile
always showed poorer mental health and academic functioning
compared to the Congruent-high profile but better mental health and
academic functioning than the Congruent-moderate and Congruent-low
profiles, except for academic achievement in the Congruent-moderate
profile.
3.5. Additional analyses
We also examined gender and age differences between the five tra­
jectory memberships. Gender and age were entered into the PP-LCGM as
predictors using the 3-step approach, which is based on logistic regres­
sion analysis (Asparouhov & Muthén, 2014). Results showed no differ­
ences due to gender or age for all five trajectory memberships.
4. Discussion
Prior research has largely ignored the co-developmental trajectories
of psychological need satisfactions at school among Chinese elementary
8
Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465
school students. Based on SDT (Ryan & Deci, 2017), our study thus
explored the co-developmental trajectories of autonomy, competence,
and relatedness need satisfactions at school from the middle to the end
of Chinese elementary school, and how these trajectories related to
important mental health and academic functioning indicators over time
to obtain a meaningful understanding of developmental patterns of need
satisfactions from a more comprehensive perspective.
4.1. Developmental patterns for basic psychological need satisfactions at
school
As our findings revealed, children’s reports of their perceived satis­
faction of needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness at school
fluctuated in a heterogeneous fashion from the middle to the end of
elementary school. The findings revealed five distinct co-developmental
patterns of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfactions at
school (i.e., Congruent-high; Congruent-moderate; Congruent-low;
Congruent-decreasing; Low-autonomy, High-competence and related­
ness). Several previous cross-sectional studies have examined the het­
erogeneous profiles of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need
satisfactions among secondary school students and adults; these studies
consistently identified three common profiles: equally low, moderate or
high levels of the three need satisfactions (e.g., Earl, 2017; Hawkins
et al., 2014; Raižienė, Gabrialavičiūtė, & Garckija, 2017; Tóth-Király
et al., 2018; Vanhove-Meriaux et al., 2018). Consistent with previous
findings, our results also revealed that about three-quarters of the stu­
dents belonged to the three subgroups displaying balanced and rela­
tively stable need satisfactions over time (i.e., Congruent-high,
Congruent-moderate, and Congruent-low). These results suggested that,
for most elementary school students, the need satisfactions seem to
remain relatively stable, rather than as variable as it is for secondary and
college students (i.e., Gillet et al., 2019; Ratelle & Duchesne, 2014). As
such, the specific context of the elementary school years might have
generated slightly more elevated levels of stability in need satisfaction
J. Zhou et al. Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465

Table 4
Time-varying associations between profiles and time-varying mental health and academic functioning indicators.
Time Profile 1 Profile 2 Profile 3 Profile 4 Profile 5 Low-autonomy, Summary of significant
points Congruent- Congruent-high Congruent-low Congruent- High-competence and differences
moderate decreasing relatedness

Life satisfaction T1 6.13 [5.99, 6.27] 6.70 [6.66, 5.26 [4.97, 6.15 [5.80, 6.50] 6.63 [6.55, 6.71] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 = 4; 2 > 3/
6.74] 5.55] 4; 2 = 5; 3 < 4/5; 4 < 5
T2 6.11 [5.95, 6.27] 6.81 [6.77, 5.21 [4.82, 5.55 [5.00, 6.10] 6.59 [6.47, 6.71] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 = 4; 2 > 3/
6.85] 5.60] 4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5
T3 6.19 [6.03, 6.35] 6.84 [6.80, 5.43 [5.08, 5.77 [5.36, 6.18] 6.74 [6.64, 6.84] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 = 4; 2 > 3/
6.88] 5.78] 4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5
T4 6.09 [5.93, 6.25] 6.83 [6.79, 5.41 [5.10, 5.30 [4.89, 5.71] 6.70 [6.60, 6.80] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 > 4; 2 > 3/
6.87] 5.72] 4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5

Self-esteem T1 13.89 [13.40, 16.50 [16.23, 12.46 [11.66, 14.13 [12.99, 15.37 [14.86, 15.88] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 = 4; 2 > 3/
14.38] 16.77] 13.26] 15.27] 4/5; 3 < 4/5; 4 = 5
T2 14.22 [13.67, 17.75 [17.51, 12.22 [11.22, 13.08 [11.65, 16.36 [15.85, 16.87] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 = 4; 2 > 3/
14.77] 17.99] 13.22] 14.51] 4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5
T3 14.85 [14.28, 17.72 [17.48, 12.25 [11.19, 13.15 [11.95, 16.81 [16.32, 17.30] 1<2/5; 1>3/4; 2 > 3/4/5;
15.42] 17.96] 13.31] 14.35] 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5
T4 14.70 [14.19, 17.85 [17.63, 12.83 [11.87, 12.22 [11.08, 16.91 [16.46, 17.36] 1<2/5; 1>3/4; 2 > 3/4/5;
15.21] 18.07] 13.79] 13.36] 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5

Depression T1 10.51 [9.63, 6.50 [6.03, 14.32 [12.65, 10.52 [8.40, 7.88 [7.63, 8.13] 1 > 2/5; 1 < 3; 1 = 4; 2<3/
11.39] 6.97] 15.99] 12.64] 4/5; 3>4/5; 4 > 5
T2 10.16 [9.18, 4.97 [4.56, 13.41 [11.41, 13.26 [10.57, 6.85 [6.09, 7.61] 1 > 2/5; 1 < 3/4; 2 < 3/4/
11.14] 5.38] 15.41] 15.95] 5; 3 = 4; 3 > 5; 4 > 5
T3 9.12 [8.26, 9.98] 4.86 [4.45, 13.56 [11.72, 13.15 [10.56, 7.38 [6.46, 8.30] 1 > 2/5; 1 < 3/4; 2 < 3/4/
5.27] 15.40] 15.74] 5; 3 = 4; 3 > 5; 4 > 5
T4 9.77 [8.77, 4.71 [4.32, 12.43 [10.61, 15.37 [13.27, 7.20 [6.34, 8.06] 1 > 2/5; 1 < 3/4; 2<3/4/5;
10.77] 5.10] 14.25] 17.47] 3>4/5; 4 > 5

Externalizing T1 1.49 [1.41, 1.57] 1.22 [1.18, 1.67 [1.51, 1.40 [1.26, 1.54] 1.28 [1.20, 1.36] 1 > 2/5; 1 < 3; 1 = 4; 2 <
behaviors 1.26] 1.83] 3/4; 2 = 5; 3 > 4/5; 4 = 5
T2 1.54 [1.44, 1.64] 1.22 [1.18, 1.80 [1.64, 1.61 [1.39, 1.83] 1.38 [1.30, 1.46] 1 > 2/5; 1 < 3; 1 = 4; 2 <
1.26] 1.96] 3/4/5; 3 = 4; 3 > 5; 4 = 5
T3 1.52 [1.44, 1.60] 1.21 [1.17, 1.69 [1.51, 1.46 [1.26, 1.66] 1.31 [1.23, 1.39] 1 > 2/5; 1 = 3/4; 2 < 3/4/
1.25] 1.87] 5; 3 = 4; 3 > 5; 4 = 5
T4 1.50 [1.42, 1.58] 1.22 [1.18, 1.69 [1.51, 1.74 [1.50, 1.98] 1.33 [1.25, 1.41] 1 > 2/5; 1 < 3; 1 = 4; 2 <
1.26] 1.87] 3/4/5; 3 = 4; 3 > 5; 4 > 5

School T1 3.11 [3.03, 3.19] 3.55 [3.51, 2.82 [2.68, 3.17 [2.99, 3.35] 3.47 [3.39, 3.55] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 = 4; 2 > 3/
engagement 3.59] 2.96] 4; 2 = 5; 3 < 4/5; 4 < 5
T2 3.08 [3.00, 3.16] 3.66 [3.62, 2.69 [2.53, 3.15 [2.95, 3.35] 3.51 [3.43, 3.59] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 = 4; 2 > 3/
3.70] 2.85] 4/5; 3 < 4/5; 4 < 5
T3 3.16 [3.08, 3.24] 3.68 [3.64, 2.82 [2.68, 2.93 [2.69, 3.17] 3.55 [3.47, 3.63] 1<2/5; 1>3; 1 = 4; 2 > 3/
3.72] 2.96] 4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5
T4 3.17 [3.09, 3.25] 3.69 [3.65, 2.82 [2.66, 2.88 [2.66, 3.10] 3.53 [3.45, 3.61] 1<2/5; 1>3/4; 2 > 3/4/5;
3.73] 2.98] 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5

Teacher rated T1 − 0.16 [-0.32, 0.19 [0.13, − 0.42 [-0.66, − 0.77 [-1.16, − 0.01 [-0.15, 0.13] 1<2; 1=3; 1>4; 1 = 5; 2 >
achievement 0.00] 0.25] − 0.18] − 0.38] 3/4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5
T2 − 0.14 [-0.30, 0.22 [0.16, − 0.47 [-0.74, − 0.78 [-1.25, − 0.10 [-0.24, 0.04] 1<2; 1>3/4; 1 = 5; 2 > 3/
0.02] 0.28] − 0.20] − 0.31] 4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5
T3 − 0.07 [-0.23, 0.21 [0.15, − 0.51 [-0.76, − 0.57 [-0.96, − 0.16 [-0.32, 0.00] 1<2; 1>3/4; 1 = 5; 2 > 3/
0.09] 0.27] − 0.26] − 0.18] 4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 = 5
T4 − 0.13 [-0.29, 0.23 [0.17, − 0.48 [-0.73, − 0.75 [-1.16, − 0.14 [-0.28, 0.00] 1<2; 1>3/4; 1 = 5; 2 > 3/
0.03] 0.29] − 0.23] − 0.34] 4/5; 3 = 4; 3 < 5; 4 < 5

Note. “ = ” represents that the difference between the two groups has not reached statistical significance. The “>” and “<” represents that the difference between the
two groups has reached statistical significance at 0.05 level. The brackets presented confidence intervals.

trajectories than what would be observed across more unstable life
contexts.
Furthermore, extending beyond the previous studies, our longitudi­
nal study revealed a novel profile characterized by a few students (5%)
as early as elementary school who displayed a co-decreasing trajectory
of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfactions at school
(i.e., Congruent-decreasing). Considering earlier studies, Gillet et al.
(2019) identified two subgroups of college students displaying a
decreasing trend in global need satisfaction trajectories. In addition,
Gnambs and Hanfstingl (2016) observed that overall levels of autonomy,
competence, and relatedness need satisfactions consistently showed
decreases among children and adolescents. Thus, this
Congruent-decreasing profile appears meaningful and valid for
elementary school students as well as older students.
Overall, the emergence of the four “Congruent” groups suggested
that the perceived satisfactions of the three needs displays a certain
degree of similarity in developmental trends over time for most students,
supporting the notion that the autonomy, competence, and relatedness
needs are highly interdependent (Ryan & Deci, 2017). More impor­
tantly, the determinants of the negative developmental trajectories (i.e.,
Congruent-moderate, Congruent-low and Congruent-decreasing)
remain to be clarified in future studies; these determinants may
involve environmental and individual difference factors. On the one
hand, considerable research within SDT has focused on the
social-contextual factors that affect need satisfactions (Ryan & Deci,
2017). For example, autonomy support, goal clarification, and process

9
J. Zhou et al.
feedback from teachers, all likely influence the development of students’
need satisfactions at school (e.g., Jang, Kim, & Reeve, 2016; Krijgsman
et al., 2019). On the other hand, although supports from the social
context are important, people nonetheless have inherent capacities to
act in the service of their own self-determination and need satisfactions,
sometimes even despite experiencing social-contextual conditions that
impede need satisfactions. Thus, Ryan and Deci (2017) suggested that
individual factors, such as intrinsic motivation, autonomous causality
orientation, and mindfulness, may also contribute to the differences in
the development of need satisfactions. Additionally, attachment style
differences may also affect people’s need satisfactions (Felton & Jowett,
2017).
Previous cross-sectional studies have also documented some unbal­
anced profiles of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satis­
factions. For example, Earl (2017) examined the profiles of
psychological need satisfactions among secondary school students,
showing an unbalanced group characterized by high competence satis­
faction, but low autonomy and relatedness satisfaction along with three
other balanced need groups (i.e., all low, all moderate, and all high). In
addition, Tóth-Király et al. (2018) identified an unbalanced group (i.e.,
high relatedness satisfaction, but low autonomy and competence satis­
faction) along with three similar balanced groups (i.e., all low, all
moderate, and all high) among adults. Our study also revealed that
autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfactions do not al­
ways show a consistent pattern of development, that is, needs may vary
independently. Our findings revealed a group of students who repre­
sented 19% of the sample and reflected an unbalanced need pattern (i.e.,
Low-autonomy, High-competence and relatedness), which suggests that
a meaningful number of Chinese elementary students have well-satisfied
relatedness and competence needs, but poorly satisfied autonomy needs.
Our findings also revealed that across all five co-developing profiles,
Chinese elementary students’ reports of the satisfaction of their auton­
omy needs consistently displayed the lowest levels among the three
psychological need satisfactions. Our results may thus support the
notion that pervasive cultural contents and social contexts may at times
directly affect people’s behaviors and need satisfactions by actively
regulating or even blocking their activities (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Spe­
cifically, consider the observation that psychological control is higher
among Chinese teachers and parents, and it accepted as normative by
Chinese children (Cheng et al., 2016). Consider also that in the Chinese
culture, Confucianism advocates interpersonal caring and harmonious
relationships (e.g., Li, 2014), while the Chinese exam-oriented educa­
tional system emphasizes the importance of the attainment of academic
competence (e.g., Yu et al., 2018). Therefore, Chinese elementary school
teachers likely offer high levels of involvement (relatedness support)
and structure (competence support), along with lower levels of auton­
omy support (and perhaps higher levels of teacher control), resulting in
the lowest levels of autonomy satisfaction among the three psycholog­
ical need satisfactions and the emergence of a Low-autonomy, High-­
competence and relatedness group of students. Of course, future
research is needed to address this possibility.
4.2. The Co-Developmental trajectories and time-varying mental health
and academic functioning
Our results also found differential associations with time-varying
mental health and academic functioning indicators across the identi­
fied trajectories. The findings supported the importance of distinguish­
ing among the co-developmental trajectories of the satisfaction of the
three needs for predicting students’ mental health and academic func­
tioning over time. Overall, our findings strongly supported SDT (Deci &
Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2017) and, more precisely, the importance of
supporting the satisfaction of students’ psychological needs in the school
domain (Tian et al., 2014). Our study found that students’ membership
in groups reflecting optimal trajectories marked by high levels of au­
tonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfactions (i.e.,
10
Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465
Congruent-high) showed the best mental health status and higher levels
of academic functioning compared to the other four groups. However,
only half of the students belonged to this optimal group. Furthermore,
nearly one-fifth of the students reported moderately satisfied develop­
mental patterns (i.e., Congruent-moderate), and they also reported
poorer mental health and academic performance than the optimal
group. Also, a small percentage of students (6%) displayed a negative
developmental pattern (i.e., Congruent-low), consistently reporting the
worst mental health and academic functioning over time. Thus, the
students in the Congruent-low groups appeared to be most at-risk.
Furthermore, the members of another relatively small group displayed
a negative developmental pattern (i.e., Congruent-decreasing) charac­
terized by gradually worsening mental health and academic functioning
over time. This group of students should also be considered at-risk, and
interventions should be undertaken as early as possible to ameliorate
their functioning.
Moreover, this study found that the students in the unbalanced need
pattern (i.e., Low-autonomy, High-competence and relatedness) also
displayed poorer mental health and academic functioning compared to
the Congruent-high group. SDT highlighted that “psychological health
requires satisfaction of all three needs; one or two are not enough” (Deci
& Ryan, 2000, p. 229). Our study thus also supported that all three needs
should be equally satisfied (i.e., balanced need satisfactions) to promote
optimal functioning whereas the satisfaction of one or two of the needs
(i.e., unbalanced need satisfactions) should not be sufficient (Ryan &
Deci, 2017). Thus, our results suggested that teachers should remain
aware of cultivating students’ balanced need satisfactions to ensure that
students’ levels of autonomy, relatedness, and competence satisfaction
are all well satisfied. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that
apart from endorsing all three needs, the balance among needs is also
important for psychological health: when comparing participants with
the same levels of need satisfactions, individuals reported higher levels
of well-being when their needs were balanced rather than unbalanced
(e.g., Sheldon & Niemiec, 2006; Tóth-Király et al., 2018). However, the
findings of our study revealed that the unbalanced developmental group
(i.e., the Low-autonomy, High-competence and relatedness group)
consistently displayed batter mental health and academic functioning
than the two balanced developmental groups (i.e., Congruent-moderate
and Congruent-low) over time. It might be the case that having a high
degree of satisfaction of two needs (i.e., competence and relatedness)
can compensate for deficits in another need (i.e., autonomy) (Ryan &
Deci, 2017). Therefore, our study also suggests that while considering
balanced development of psychological need satisfactions, the mean
levels of psychological need satisfactions remain crucial to the optimal
development of students.
In conclusion, the findings of our study help clarify how specific,
longer-term co-developmental patterns of need satisfactions are associ­
ated with Chinese elementary school children’s key developmental and
educational outcomes. Consistent with SDT, well-satisfied psychological
needs were related to greater mental health and academic functioning
over time. In addition, when children perceived a failure in the satis­
faction of psychological needs (i.e., one or more needs), they tended to
exhibit lower or declining scores on the same mental health and aca­
demic functioning indicators over time. Notably, these findings under­
score the importance of group differences and possible cultural
considerations in understanding the progression of psychological need
satisfactions.
4.3. Strengths, limitations and future directions
Compared to prior research, this study demonstrated several major
strengths. The first major strength was the large sample of elementary
school students. The second major strength involved the 4-wave accel­
erated longitudinal design covering the middle to the end of the Chinese
elementary school years. The final major strength involved using a
person-centered analytic method to explore the relations between the
J. Zhou et al.
co-developmental trajectories of autonomy, competence, and related­
ness need satisfactions and multiple time-varying mental health and
academic functioning indicators among students in a nation (i.e., China)
differing from the nations (i.e., Western nations) in which the majority
of empirical studies have been conducted.
Despite these strengths, there were critical limitations that should be
addressed. First, we mainly relied on self-report measures that may be
associated with social desirability responding. Social desirability
responding might have yielded overly positive self-presentations for
students on some measures, such as reports of externalizing behaviors
and school engagement. Gathering data from multiple sources (e.g.,
teachers and peers) would be important to increase confidence in these
measurements in future studies. Second, the sample for this study was
obtained from schools in China. Thus, caution should be used in
generalizing results from the present study to other populations; it
would be beneficial to conduct cross-cultural studies in the future to
examine potential differences in the developmental patterns of psy­
chological need satisfactions in different cultural and social contexts.
Third, we did not identify the factors responsible for the heterogeneity of
developmental patterns. The identification of key predictors of the
developmental patterns is essential to help educational professionals to
understand the determinants of group differences in the co-
developmental patterns of heterogeneity need satisfactions, thus
informing the development of effective prevention and intervention
programs aimed at promoting positive mental health and academic
success. Fourth, need frustrations was not measured in this study.
Investigating need frustrations is important for future studies, as need
frustrations has shown unique relations with maladaptive psychological
and educational outcomes, such as ill-being and school disengagement
(e.g., Chen et al., 2015; Jang, Kim, & Reeve, 2016). Fifth, it is important
to explore precise mechanisms that underscore differential patterns on
how students belonging to various profiles of psychological need satis­
factions relate to mental health and academic indicators over time in
future research. Finally, alternative longitudinal methodological ap­
proaches could also be used to clarify the development and conse­
quences of differences in psychological need satisfactions. For example,
it may be useful to identify profiles at each time point and assess changes
in psychological need satisfactions profiles over time via latent transi­
tion analyses. It may also be useful to employ bi-factor models to identify
overall need satisfaction and compare general satisfaction versus spe­
cific need satisfactions as indicators of latent profiles.
4.4. Educational implications
Our research yields important general implications for educators. In
the Chinese school setting, as in all settings, teachers aim to promote
children’s learning and mental well-being, thus teachers may consider
paying special attention to students exhibiting low and/or decreasing
need satisfactions at school. Given that our findings reveal the diversity
of developmental patterns of psychological need satisfactions, they
argue against a “one size fits all” approach to educational practices,
suggesting the need for universal screening and dynamic monitoring of
students’ psychological need satisfactions levels to develop more so­
phisticated intervention programs tailored to the unique characteristics
of the relevant groups to promote students’ mental health and academic
success. Ongoing assessments of need satisfactions should allow edu­
cators to intervene before the emergence of mental health problems or
educational difficulties.
More specifically, our study suggests that more attention should be
given to the satisfaction of autonomy needs in Chinese elementary
school students. Furthermore, given that developmental patterns of need
satisfactions may not be interchangeable across different cultural con­
tents or developmental stages (Ryan & Deci, 2017), our findings also
suggest the need for educators to consider (their own) specific cultural
contents that may impede the satisfaction of specific needs during
various developmental stages, then develop corresponding interventions
11
Learning and Instruction 74 (2021) 101465
and educational policies.
From the SDT perspective, general agreement exists that autonomy-
supportive teaching behaviors offer an effective way to increase stu­
dents’ levels of autonomy need satisfaction (e.g., Cheon et al., 2018).
Martineka and Kipmana (2016) indicated that incorporating
autonomy-supportive structures into classes and designing more
autonomous learning settings may be important pedagogical consider­
ations to foster students’ autonomy. For example, “teaching in students’
preferred ways” advocates that teachers should take the students’ per­
spectives into account and adjust their lesson plans to align with stu­
dents’ preferred ways of teaching; this approach has been shown to
increase students’ autonomy satisfaction at school (Jang, Reeve, &
Halusic, 2016). For competence needs, highly structured learning en­
vironments would be instrumental in increasing students’ competence
need satisfaction (Mouratidis, Vansteenkiste, Michou, & Lens, 2013).
For example, goal clarification (i.e., clarifying) and process feedback (i.
e., guiding) are strategies that teachers can use to structure students’
learning activities to help satisfy their competence needs (Krijgsman
et al., 2019). Specifically, by communicating clear, specific and trans­
parent goals (i.e., goal clarification) and providing students with con­
crete suggestions to guide them towards improvement (i.e., process
feedback), students are able to evaluate their current performance in
relation to their desired goals and to decide where and how to direct
their learning. These strategies help students to expand their capabilities
and thereby foster their feelings of effectiveness Mouratidis et al., 2013.
Finally, students’ need for relatedness can be fulfilled by showing
acceptance, understanding and consideration (e.g., Miller et al., 2017).
The Relationship Building Intervention (RBI) has been shown to be an
effective to aid teachers in learning how to provide opportunities for
bonding with teachers and classmates. The RBI includes a series of
teacher-facilitated, structured activities designed to promote inclusive
classroom communities and positive peer relationship building skills,
such as empathy, communication, problem solving, diversity apprecia­
tion, and friendship formation and support (Miller et al., 2017), thus
promoting high quality relationships and intimate connections with
students.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (No. 31971005), and the Major Program of the National Social
Science Foundation of China (No. 19ZDA360).
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jianhua Zhou: Conceptualization, Data curation, Methodology,
Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. E.
Scott Huebner: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing –
review & editing. Lili Tian: Conceptualization, Data curation, Meth­
odology, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review &
editing, Supervision.
Declaration of competing interest
None.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2021.101465.
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