Satisfaction of basic psychological needs, depressive symptoms and apathy among hospitalized elderly

In the light of the self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2002), this transversal study examines the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and the links to depressive symptoms and apathy among hospitalized elderly people in a follow-up care and re-adaptation service. One hundred elderly persons (M-age = 84.04 +/- 6.96) took part in this study. Participants completed a number of questionnaires, such as satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs, depressive symptoms and apathy. Socio-demographic information was collected. An automated classification analysis presented three profiles, characterised by: (1) a high degree of perceived satisfaction of autonomy and relatedness needs and high for competence needs; (2) a high degree of perceived satisfaction of autonomy and competence needs and a medium degree of satisfaction of relatedness needs; and (3) a low degree of perceived satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs. The results show that a high degree of satisfaction of competence needs is significantly associated with a decrease in the level of apathy for Profile 1 and a decrease in the levels of depressive symptoms and apathy for Profile 2. In the case of profile 3, a low degree of perceived satisfaction of competence needs is significantly associated with an increase in the levels of depressive symptoms and apathy. This study highlights the importance of taking psycho social factors into account in health care facilities.