Abstract
Late adolescents with career choice problems often have psychological problems as well. The starting point of this study was the question of career choice counselors whether potential clients with career choice problems and psychological problems could be accepted in career choice intervention, or whether it was better to advise them to seek help for their psychological problems. We investigated whether a successful career choice intervention reduced psychological problems, and whether this program was equally effective in participants with low and with high levels of psychological problems. Participants were 45 Dutch students (age 17–24) with career choice problems. They had above average levels of self-reported psychological problems before the start of the intervention. These problems decreased significantly following the intervention. With regard to vocational commitment development, the intervention was equally effective for participants with low or average and with (very) high levels of psychological problems before the start of the intervention.
Highlights
IntroductionCAREER CHOICE DEVELOPMENT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF IDENTITY THEORY Making satisfying career choices can be seen as the development of strong and adaptive vocational commitments, and as an important aspect of identity development (Kroger, 2007)
The starting point for this study was the question of career choice counselors whether late adolescents with career choice problems and with high levels of psychological problems – such as anxiety or depression – could be included in their career choice interventions, or whether it is better to address their psychological problems before addressing their career choice problems
In this study we aim to shed some light on that question by investigating whether the level of psychological problems reduces after a career choice intervention, and whether a career choice intervention is effective in participants with low and with high levels of psychological problems
Summary
CAREER CHOICE DEVELOPMENT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF IDENTITY THEORY Making satisfying career choices can be seen as the development of strong and adaptive vocational commitments, and as an important aspect of identity development (Kroger, 2007). It is a difficult task: many late adolescents struggle with it (Feldman, 2003; Gati and Asulin-Peretz, 2011). Exploration and commitment formation are seen as two crucial dimensions in identity development (Marcia, 1966). Identity development proceeds from an initial state in which there are either no commitments or commitments that are adopted from significant others [Marcia (1966)
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