A Follow-up Study Of College Students' Career Adaptability, Parents' Career-related Behaviors And Career Exploration

College students face the task of switching from school to the work world before they graduate.Whether this task can be successfully completed depends on whether college students have the psychological resources to deal with career difficulties and whether they have more positive career coping behaviors(such as career exploration).In order to better understand the relationship between college students' positive coping behaviors and their career development as well as the corresponding situational factors during their career development,this study adopts a longitudinal study design to explore the possible interaction between college students' career adaptability,parents' related career behaviors and career exploration.Participants in this study were 789 juniors from Wuxi,China,including 556 boys and 233 girls,aged 21.65 ± 0.84.Career-specific parental behaviors were evaluated using Career-specific parental behaviors scale,including three subscales,parental support,parental intervention,and lack of parental participation.Career adaptability were evaluated using Chinese version of the Career-adapt-abilities Inventory revised by Hou Zhijin et al.,which specifically includes four subscales of career attention,career control,career curiosity,and career self-confidence.Career exploration was evaluated by Career Exploration Inventory which includes self-exploration and Career Exploration Inventory.The above scales have a good record of reliability and validity in a sample of Chinese college students.A total of three data collections were conducted at 6-month intervals.The first test was conducted in a class as a group.Participants completed a paper questionnaire with 780 valid questionnaires.The second data collection was 6 months later.The author sent the electronic version of the questionnaire to the participant's mailbox by email,and the participant filled out and submitted it online.In the end,a total of 467 subjects completed and submitted the questionnaire.Six months later,the third data collection was conducted.The author sent the electronic questionnaire to the subject's mailbox by email,and the subjects filled out and submitted it online.Finally,a total of 333 subjects completed and submitted the questionnaire.The research results show that there is a significant relationship between college students' career adaptability,career exploration,and parental life-related behaviors.Specifically,(1)There is a cross-lag effect between career adaptability and career exploration.Individuals with higher career adaptability are more inclined to pursue career exploration;individuals with more career exploration have a higher level of career adaptability;(2)Individuals who report the lack of participation in their parents' occupations tend to have lower career adaptations Individuals with higher career adaptability tend to report higher levels of parental professional support;(3)Career adaptability plays a mediating role between lack of parental career engagement and career exploration;career adaptability plays a role in career exploration and parents Career support plays a full intermediary role.This research has theoretical significance and practical guiding significance for the career development of college students.lack of parental career engagement will have a negative impact on the individual's career development.At the same time,the children's career adaptability will affect the parents' career support.The higher the children's career adaptability,the more they will get.At the same time,in the face of difficulties in the career process,positive coping behaviors such as career exploration can promote individuals to enhance their career adaptability,improve their psychological resources to cope with career challenges,and form a virtuous circle in the career development process.