The Relationship Between Parental Career-Related Factors and Adolescents’ Ambivalence in Career Decision-Making: A Longitudinal Mediation Study

Abstract

Our current research aimed to investigate the mediating relationship between Parental Career-Related Factors, adolescents’ Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, and Ambivalence in Career Decision-Making with a total of 605 students from China. We collected data at three different time points, with a 6-month interval between each time point. Then we applied a Cross-Lagged Panel Model using data from all three waves, and the results showed that a higher level of support in Parental Career-Related Behaviors and Adolescent Parent Career Congruence measured at time 1 positively predicted Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy at time 2; Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy at time 2 negatively predicted Ambivalence in Career Decision-Making at time 3; and the indirect effect of support in Parental Career-Related Behaviors and Adolescent Parent Career Congruence on Ambivalence in Career Decision-Making was significant. Therefore, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy mediated the relationship between support in Parental Career-Related Behaviors and Ambivalence in Career Decision-Making and between Adolescent Parent Career Congruence and Ambivalence in Career Decision-Making. The implications, limitations, and future direction are discussed.