Evaluation of Irrational Beliefs and Basic Psychological Needs among Adolescents in Terms of Three Psychotherapeutic Approaches

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the psychological needs of adolescents with rational emotive cognitive behavioral approach, self determination theory and psychoanalytic approach. Method: The predictive correlational research method, one of the quantitative research models, was used in the study. Convenience sampling method, which is one of the non-probabilistic sampling methods, was used in the selection of the participants. Participants are a total of 220 people, 106 girls and 114 boys, aged 12-18. Demographic Information Form, Rational Emotive Self-Determination Scale for Adolescents and Reynolds Adolescent Adjustment Screening Inventory were used as data collection tools. Results: Irrational beliefs on basic psychological needs in adolescents are associated with psychological stress, positive self-perception, anger, and antisocial behaviors. The need for autonomy was determined to be significant on all dependent variables of irrational beliefs; the need for relatedness predicted irrational beliefs, antisocial behaviors and positive self-perception; and the need for competence predicted only irrational beliefs and psychological stress at a statistically significant level.. Conclusion: The results emphasize the importance of considering adolescents' anger, antisocial behavior, psychological distress, and positive sense of self in relation to psychological constructs called autonomy irrational beliefs, relatedness irrational beliefs, and competence irrational beliefs.