Role of Parents in Satisfying Basic Psychological Needs of Children: A Systematic Review

The theory of self-determination states that satisfying the three basic and universal needs of autonomy, competence and communication causes internal motivation in children and adolescents and plays a central role in their well-being and adaptation. This theory emphasizes that parents, in interaction with other influential people in their children's lives, play an essential role in the socialization of children, and their behavior can mainly be effective in satisfying or inhibiting psychological needs.

The present study was conducted with the aim of systematic review of researches (domestic, Iran, and international) to achieve actions and behaviors of parents that affect the satisfaction of children's basic psychological needs.

The research was qualitative that conducted with a systematic review method. The databases includes: ScienceDirect, ERIC, Google Scholar, Research Institute of Scientific Information and Documents of Iran (Irandac), Scientific Information Database of Academic Jihad (Said), Database of Noor Specialized Journals (Nurmagz) and Database of Iranian Magazines and Publications (Iran Mag).

After going through the stages of identification, screening, evaluation and inclusion, 23 studies were selected and parental actions aimed at satisfying the basic psychological needs of children were extracted from them. The number of these measures was more than 90 titles of parental behavior or actions, which were presented separately according to the three needs of autonomy, competence, and communication, and were categorized based on similarity.

The results of the review can be used to prepare valid educational packages and apply them in order to teach effective parenting measures to parents, to improve their ability to satisfy the basic needs of their children.