Parent-Child Relationship and Career Adaptability of Secondary Vocational Students: From the Perspective of Career Construction Theory

Yang Qingfeng; Xie Ruibo; Ding Wan; Li Jiayi; Li Weijian

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240621

PDF(1262 KB)

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6) : 1496-1506. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240621

Research on Social Psychological Service in the New Era

Parent-Child Relationship and Career Adaptability of Secondary Vocational Students: From the Perspective of Career Construction Theory

Yang Qingfeng, Xie Ruibo, Ding Wan, Li Jiayi, Li Weijian

Author information +

History +

Abstract

Secondary education is an important component of China’s education system. With the upgrading of industrial structure and the advancement of a new round of vocational education reform, it is crucial to understand how to enhance the adaptability of secondary vocational students in achieving career transitions. Previous research has revealed the significant influences of family environment on adolescents' career development. However, compared to regular high school students whose main career development goal is academic achievement, secondary vocational students tend to be more employment-oriented. Considering that secondary vocational students are still in the stage of adolescence where their physical and mental development is not yet mature, they face challenges in career transitions that are difficult to handle independently. Therefore, they need more trust and guidance from their parents in this process. Particularly, in the Chinese cultural context, where there is a long-standing tradition of high parent-child dependency, one of the important motivations for children's career development is to bring honor to their families. Moreover, fathers and mothers also play different roles in the process of their children's career development. Therefore, it has positive theoretical and practical significance to thoroughly explore the longitudinal predictive role of parent-child relationship quality on the career adaptability of secondary vocational students in China and its underlying mechanisms within the Chinese cultural background.
According to the career construction theory, self-efficacy serves as a core mechanism mediating the development of career adaptability in response to situational factors. Given that academic achievement and career decision-making are the most prominent career development tasks for vocational students, this study examined the longitudinal predictive role of father-child and mother-child relationships on the career adaptability of secondary vocational students in the Chinese cultural background, as well as the mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy in this relationship. The study employed a cluster sampling method and collaborated with a secondary vocational college in an eastern province of China to conduct an online questionnaire survey of 1214 participants in their first year of high school. The study conducted three waves of follow-up surveys. Participants completed the questionnaires on father-son/mother-son relationships, academic self-efficacy, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career adaptability at Time 1. Additionally, participants responded to questions regarding gender, age, subjective family socioeconomic status, and academic performance. After a six-month interval (Time 2), they completed the questionnaires on academic self-efficacy and career decision-making self-efficacy again. Following another six-month interval (Time 3), they completed the career adaptability scale.
Controlling for gender, grade, socioeconomic status, and Time 1 career adaptability, the results from the study sample revealed that: (1) Father-child relationships can positively predict the career adaptability of secondary vocational students, while the direct predictive effect of mother-son relationships is not significant. (2) Mother-child relationships can promote the development of career adaptability in secondary vocational students through academic self-efficacy and career decision-making self-efficacy, whereas the quality of father-child relationships longitudinally predicts career adaptability in secondary vocational students only through career decision-making self-efficacy.
Our study has theoretical and practical implications. First, by adopting a relational perspective and considering both parent-child relationships and mother-child relationships, we explore the longitudinal associations between parent-child relationships and the career adaptability of secondary vocational school students, as well as the mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy. This contributes to establishing a more comprehensive “Family Relationships - Campus Learning - Career Development” model and further deepens the theoretical and localized research findings on parent-child relationships and career adaptability development. Additionally, the results of this study indicate that a good parent-child relationship can enhance the self-efficacy of secondary vocational students in both academic and career decision-making aspects, thereby promoting the development of their career adaptability. Furthermore, the influence of father-child relationships on the career adaptability of secondary vocational students in China may be more prominent in terms of vocational attributes, and it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to the role of fathers in guiding their children's career development in the future.

Key words

father-child relationship / mother-child relationship / academic self-efficacy / career decision self-efficacy / career adaptability

Cite this article

EndNote

Ris (Procite)

Bibtex

Download Citations

Yang Qingfeng, Xie Ruibo, Ding Wan, Li Jiayi, Li Weijian. Parent-Child Relationship and Career Adaptability of Secondary Vocational Students: From the Perspective of Career Construction Theory[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2024, 47(6): 1496-1506 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20240621

References

[1] 方杰, 温忠麟, 邱皓政. (2021). 纵向数据的中介效应分析. 心理科学, 44(4), 989-996.
[2] 侯芬, 伍新春, 邹盛奇, 刘畅, 黄彬彬. (2018). 父母教养投入对青少年亲社会行为的影响: 亲子依恋的中介作用. 心理发展与教育, 34(4), 417-425.
[3] 金灿灿, 邹泓, 曾荣, 窦东徽. (2010). 中学生亲子依恋的特点及其对社会适应的影响: 父母亲密的调节作用. 心理发展与教育, 26(6), 577-583.
[4] 邝磊, 郑雯雯, 林崇德, 杨萌, 刘力. (2011). 大学生的经济信心与职业决策自我效能的关系——归因和主动性人格的调节作用. 心理学报, 43(9), 1063-1074.
[5] 李昂, 张景焕. (2020). 亲子关系和移情对青少年社会创造力的预测: 友谊质量的中介作用. 心理与行为研究, 18(4), 496-502.
[6] 李放, 姚宗彪, 郑雪, 王一博. (2013). 重点初中青少年依恋对学业自我效能感的影响. 中国学校卫生, 34(2), 149-151, 155.
[7] 凌辉, 黎任水, 张建人, 李光程, 皮丹丹. (2019). 小学高年级学生亲子关系与学校适应: 自立行为的中介作用. 中国临床心理学杂志, 27(1), 134-137.
[8] 任云霞. (2018). 重要他人支持、学科特定自我效能感与大学生生涯适应力. 南昌航空大学学报: 社会科学版, 20(2), 45-49, 96.
[9] 汪晗, 杜建政. (2019). 亲子关系对青少年感恩的影响: 责任心的中介作用. 心理研究, 12(4), 356-362.
[10] 温忠麟, 方杰, 谢晋艳, 欧阳劲樱. (2022). 国内中介效应的方法学研究. 心理科学进展, 30(8), 1692-1702.
[11] 温忠麟, 叶宝娟. (2014). 中介效应分析: 方法和模型发展. 心理科学进展, 22(5), 731-745.
[12] 徐国庆. (2020). 作为现代职业教育体系关键制度的职业教育高考. 教育研究, 41(4), 95-106.
[13] 于凤杰, 徐夫真, 王姝琼, 张玲玲, 张文新. (2010). 城乡普高生与中职生对未来的规划和态度. 心理发展与教育, 26(2), 161-168.
[14] 张璟, 袁悦, 熊红星, 唐日新. (2019). 亲子依恋对青少年学习倦怠的影响: 有调节的中介模型. 江西师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 52(5), 116-120.
[15] 赵小云, 郭成. (2010). 国外生涯适应力研究述评. 心理科学进展, 18(9), 1503-1510.
[16] 赵小云, 谭顶良, 郭成. (2015). 大学生生涯适应力问卷的编制. 中国心理卫生杂志, 29(6), 463-469.
[17] 周浩, 龙立荣. (2004). 共同方法偏差的统计检验与控制方法. 心理科学进展, 12(6), 942-950.
[18] Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16(5), 427-454.
[19] Betz N. E., Klein K. L., & Taylor K. M. (1996). Evaluation of a short form of the career decision-making self-efficacy scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 4(1), 47-57.
[20] Blustein, D. L. (2011). A relational theory of working. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(1), 1-17.
[21] Chen C. A., Hsieh C. W., Chen D. Y., & Wen B. (2022). Like father, like son: Explicating parental influence on adult children' s public sector preference. International Public Management Journal, 25(2), 261-279.
[22] Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 9(2), 233-255.
[23] Cole, D. A., & Maxwell, S. E. (2003). Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: Questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112(4), 558-577.
[24] Dogan, U. (2015). Student engagement, academic self-efficacy, and academic motivation as predictors of academic performance. The Anthropologist, 20(3), 553-561.
[25] Eagly, A. H., & Wood, W. (2011). Social role theory. In P. A. M. van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 458-476). Sage Publications Ltd.
[26] Emmanuelle, V. (2009). Inter-relationships among attachment to mother and father, self-esteem, and career indecision. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(2), 91-99.
[27] Ginevra M. C., Nota L., & Ferrari L. (2015). Parental support in adolescents' career development: Parents' and children's perceptions. The Career Development Quarterly, 63(1), 2-15.
[28] Gogol K., Brunner M., Goetz T., Martin R., Ugen S., Keller U., & Preckel F. (2014). “My Questionnaire is Too Long!” The assessments of motivational-affective constructs with three-item and single-item measures. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 39(3), 188-205.
[29] Haenggli, M., & Hirschi, A. (2020). Career adaptability and career success in the context of a broader career resources framework. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 119, Article 103414.
[30] Hou C. N., Wu Y. Z., & Liu Z. J. (2019). Career decision-making self-efficacy mediates the effect of social support on career adaptability: A longitudinal study. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 47(5), 1-13.
[31] Jiang R. Y., Fan R. M., Zhang Y., & Li Y. X. (2022). Understanding the serial mediating effects of career adaptability and career decision-making self-efficacy between parental autonomy support and academic engagement in Chinese secondary vocational students. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 953550.
[32] Kim, N. R., & Lee, K. H. (2018). The effect of internal locus of control on career adaptability: The mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy and occupational engagement. Journal of Employment Counseling, 55(1), 2-15.
[33] Lamb, M. E., & Lewis, C. (2013). Father-child relationships. In N. J. Cabrera & C. S. Tamis-LeMonda (Eds.), Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 119-134). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
[34] Li H., Ngo H. Y., & Cheung F. (2019). Linking protean career orientation and career decidedness: The mediating role of career decision self-efficacy. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 115, Article 103322.
[35] Loh, W. W., & Ren, D. N. (2023). Adjusting for baseline measurements of the mediators and outcome as a first step toward eliminating confounding biases in mediation analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(5), 1254-1266.
[36] Maggiori C., Rossier J., & Savickas M. L. (2017). Career adapt-abilities scale-short form (CAAS-SF): Construction and validation. Journal of Career Assessment, 25(2), 312-325.
[37] Marcionetti, J., & Rossier, J. (2021). A longitudinal study of relations among adolescents' self-esteem, general self-efficacy, career adaptability, and life satisfaction. Journal of Career Development, 48(4), 475-490.
[38] Mulyadi S., Rahardjo W., & Basuki, A. M. H. (2016). The role of parent-child relationship, self-esteem, academic self-efficacy to academic stress. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 217, 603-608.
[39] Paloş, R., & Drobot, L. (2010). The impact of family influence on the career choice of adolescents. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3407-3411.
[40] Pan Y., Yang Z. P., Han X. H., & Qi S. S. (2021). Family functioning and mental health among secondary vocational students during the COVID-19 epidemic: A moderated mediation model. Personality and Individual Differences, 171, Article 110490.
[41] Parsa N., Yaacob S. N., Redzuan M. R., Parsa P., & Esmaeili N. S. (2014). Parental attachment, inter-parental conflict and late adolescent's self-efficacy. Asian Social Science, 10(8), 123-131.
[42] Ramos, K., & Lopez, F. G. (2018). Attachment security and career adaptability as predictors of subjective well-being among career transitioners. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 104, 72-85.
[43] Santos A., Wang W. W., & Lewis J. (2018). Emotional intelligence and career decision-making difficulties: The mediating role of career decision self-efficacy. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 107, 295-309.
[44] Savickas, M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of career construction. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (pp. 42-70). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[45] Savickas, M. L., & Porfeli, E. J. (2012). Career Adapt-Abilities Scale: Construction, reliability, and measurement equivalence across 13 countries. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(3), 661-673.
[46] Savickas, M. L. (2013). Career construction theory and practice. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (pp. 42-70). Wiley.
[47] Smetana J. G., Campione-Barr N., & Metzger A. (2006). Adolescent development in interpersonal and societal contexts. Annual Review of Psychology, 57(1), 255-284.
[48] Solberg V. S., Howard K., Gresham S., & Carter E. (2012). Quality learning experiences, self-determination, and academic success: A path analytic study among youth with disabilities. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 35(2), 85-96.
[49] Steinberg, L., & Silk, J. S. (2002). Parenting adolescents. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Children and parenting ( pp. 103-133). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
[50] Sun X. R., McHale S. M., & Updegraff K. A. (2020). Career adaptivity mediates longitudinal links between parent-adolescent relationships and young adult occupational attainment. Developmental Psychology, 56(12), 2309-2321.
[51] To S. M., Yang L., Lau C. D., Wong C. W. V., & Su X. B. (2022). Associations of parental variables and youth' s career decision-making self-efficacy: A meta-analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 31(2), 530-544.
[52] Wang Y. H., Huebner E. S., & Tian L. L. (2021). Parent-child cohesion, self-esteem, and academic achievement: The longitudinal relations among elementary school students. Learning and Instruction, 73, Article 101467.
[53] Xing, X., & Rojewski, T. W. (2018). Family influences on career decision-making self-efficacy of Chinese secondary vocational students. New Waves Educational Research and Development Journal, 21(1), 48-67.
[54] Xu R., Deng L. Y., Fang X. Y., Jia J. C., Tong W., Zhou H. F., Guo Y., & Zhou H. (2023). Association among parent-teacher relationship, autonomy support, and career development of high school students across school types. Journal of Career Development, 50(3), 595-611.
[55] Zhu Q. Y., Cheong Y., Wang C. X., & Tong J. J. (2023). The impact of maternal and paternal parenting styles and parental involvement on Chinese adolescents' academic engagement and burnout. Current Psychology, 42(4), 2827-2840.
[56] Zeng Q., He Y. S., Li J., Liang Z. Y., Zhang M. Q., Yi D., & Quan J. X. (2022). Hope, future work self and life satisfaction among vocational high school students in China: The roles of career adaptability and academic self-efficacy. Personality and Individual Differences, 199, Article 111822.
[57] Zheng S. N., Wu G. Z., Zhao J. H., & Chen W. Q. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 epidemic anxiety on college students' employment confidence and employment situation perception in China. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 980634.