Longitudinal Relationships Between Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Self-Esteem Among Chinese Children: Between-Person and Within-Person Effects

Basic psychological need satisfaction (BPNS), encompassing autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs, is theorized to support positive self-development, including self-esteem. At the same time, self-esteem, as a psychological resource, may shape individuals’ perceptions and behaviors, potentially influencing need satisfaction. This study examined the temporal ordering between BPNS and self-esteem among children, with a particular focus on specific needs and the distinction between between-person and within-person effects. A sample of 739 Chinese primary school students (48.4% girls, M age = 10.32 years) completed questionnaires across three waves over one year. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models demonstrated that, when BPNS was treated as a unified construct, BPNS consistently predicted later self-esteem, whereas self-esteem did not predict later BPNS. When autonomy, competence, and relatedness were incorporated simultaneously into an integrated model, competence need satisfaction emerged as the most consistent need-specific predictor of later self-esteem across both time intervals. Conversely, self-esteem predicted later competence only in the first interval, and its associations with autonomy and relatedness were weaker and less stable. These findings suggest that within-person increases in BPNS, particularly competence need satisfaction, predicted subsequent increases in self-esteem over time. The findings also underscore the potential relevance of need-supportive environments for children’s positive self-evaluative development.