What Makes for a Vitalizing Day in Adolescence? Antecedents and Outcomes of Daily Need Crafting

Abstract

Psychological need crafting denotes individuals’ pro-active attempts to fulfill their psychological need for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Although previous research has shown that need crafting contributes to adolescents’ mental health, little is known about the factors involved in adolescents’ daily efforts to engage in need crafting. This study considers psychological energy as both an important prerequisite for need crafting and as an outcome of daily need crafting. The sample consisted of 168 adolescents, aged 16–18 years (M_age = 16.63; 76.1% female). Morning and evening measurements were completed for 7 consecutive days. Adolescents’ need crafting intentions in the morning were associated positively with vitality at the end of the day, an effect occurring through satisfaction of the basic psychological needs. Further, better sleep and subsequent morning vitality predicted more need crafting intentions in the morning. The findings indicate that both a psychological pathway (i.e., need crafting) and physical pathway (i.e., sleep) are critical to preserve adolescents’ daily vitality.