An Empirical Typology of Career Thoughts of Individuals with Disabilities

Abstract

Dysfunctional career thoughts can have a negative impact on the career decision-making process and an individual's career and vocational development. Individuals with disabilities may be particularly vulnerable to dysfunctional career thoughts because limited access to the labor market provides limited opportunity to make vocational decisions and to understand the impact of functional limitations on career decisions. The purpose of this study was to identify groups of individuals with disabilities based on their measured levels of dysfunctional career thoughts. This nonexperimental descriptive study investigated the career thoughts of 132 individuals with a diagnosis based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) who received job placement services from a community-based job placement program. Cluster analysis of the Career Thoughts Inventory (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996) identified three groups of participants: (a) those with dysfunctional thoughts, (b) those with external conflict, and (c) those with productive thoughts. The results suggest differences between the clustered groups and two comparison groups.