Abstract :

This study investigated the mediating role of career stress in the relationship between family influence on career choice and career construction among emerging adults. Utilizing a quantitative correlational survey design data were collected via online surveys from a sample of emerging adults in Turkey. Structural validity of the measurement model was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis and the hypothesized mediation pathways were tested using bootstrapping methods. Correlation analyses revealed that family influence was negatively associated with career stress and positively associated with career construction. Furthermore mediation analysis demonstrated that family influence significantly and negatively predicted career stress which in turn exerted a negative impact on career construction. Career stress was found to play a partial mediating role in this relationship. These findings suggest that supportive family environments serve as a crucial stress-buffering mechanism that ultimately optimizes the career construction process for emerging adults.

---

Keywords :

emerging adulthood, career construction, family influence, career stress, career construction theory.

---

References :

1. Arnett, J. J. (2010). Emerging adulthood (s). Bridging cultural and developmental approaches to psychology:New syntheses in theory, research, and policy, 255-275.Arnett, J. J. (2007). Emerging adulthood: What is it, and what is it good for?. Child development perspectives, 1(2), 68-73.
2. Arnett, J. J. (2006). Emerging Adulthood: Understanding the New Way of Coming of Age. In J. J. Arnett & J. L. Tanner (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21^stcentury (pp. 3 – 19). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11381-001
3. Arnett, J. J. (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. Oxford University Press.
4. Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American psychologist, 55(5), 469.
5. Aslan, M.M. (2021). Yükseköğretimde ruh sağlığı hizmeti. Uçar, S. (Ed). Okullarda ruh sağlığı içinde(169-186, ss).Nobel Yayıncılık.
6. Aşık, G. & Akgül, H. (2022). Üniversite öğrencilerinin kariyer stresleri, kariyer kararında ailenin etkisi ve kariyer kararı verme yetkinlik algıları arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi. Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 19(1), 192-212.
7. Böhle, E., Beckmann, J., & Granato, M. (2025). Preparing transitions: The impact of vocational role models on occupational aspirations within social contexts. Social Inclusion, 13.
8. Bryant, B. K., Zvonkovic, A. M., & Reynolds, P. (2006). Parenting in relation to child and adolescent vocational development. Journal of Vocational behavior, 69(1), 149-175.

9. Büyüköztürk, Ş., Kılıç-Çakmak, E., Akgün, Ö., Karadeniz, Ş., & Demirel, F. (2008). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri.
10. Byrne, B.M. (2010). Structural Equation Modeling With AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming, Second Edition (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203805534
11. Choi, B. Y., Park, H., Nam, S. K., Lee, J., Cho, D., & Lee, S. M. (2011). The development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Korean Career Stress Inventory for college students. The Career Development Quarterly, 59(6), 559-572.
12. Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support,and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310-357.
13. Cosma, I. M. (2025). The Turkish State as a Pan-Family. From Micro to Macro Environment: Societal Values and the Good-Bad Binomen. Inclusivity, (2), 157-168.
14. Çelik, O. (2024). The mediating role of career stress and career awareness in the relationship between mother helicopter parenting, autonomy supportive behaviors, and career instability. Erzincan Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi,26(4), 607-619.

15. Dalğar, İ. (2012). Relational models theory and their associations with cultural orientations and personal value priorities in the Turkish cultural context(Yayımlanmamış yüksek  lisans tezi). Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Ankara.
16. Demirtaş, A. S., & Kara, A. (2022). Career adaptability and unemployment anxiety in Turkish senior undergraduate students: The mediating role of career stress. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 12(64), 19-33.
17. Eryilmaz, A., & Kara, A. (2018). A career adaptability model for pre-service teachers. Erzincan University Journal of Education Faculty, 20(2), 352-365.
18. Erzen, E., & Kara, A. (2022). Bağlanma stilleri, sosyal destek ve kariyer uyumluluğu: Alternatif modeller. Öneri Dergisi, 17(57), 340-364.
19. Fouad, N. A., Cotter, E. W., Fitzpatrick, M. E., Kantamneni, N., Carter, L., & Bernfeld, S. (2010). Development and validation of the family influence scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 18(3), 276-291.
20. Fuligni, A. J., Tseng, V., & Lam, M. (1999). Attitudes toward family obligations among American adolescents with Asian, Latin American, and European backgrounds. Child development, 70(4), 1030-1044.
21. Guan, Y., Wang, F., Liu, H., Ji, Y., Jia, L., Fang, Z., … & Li, C. (2015). Career commitment and career adaptability of Chinese college students: The mediating role of career-related parental support. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 90, 32–40.
22. Guichard, J. (2013, November). Career guidance, education, and dialogues for a fair and sustainable human development. In Inaugural conference of the UNESCO chair of Lifelong guidance and counselling.
23. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis (7th Edition). NJ: Prentice Hall.
24. Hartung, P. J., & Taber, B. J. (2015). Narrating identity in career and self-construction.
25. Hayes, A. F. (2022). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach(3rd ed.). The Guilford Press.
26. Hirschi, A. (2012). The career resources model: An integrative framework for career counsellors. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 40(4), 369-383.
27. Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind(3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
28. Hou, C., Wu, Y., & Liu, Z. (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.
29. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural equation modeling: a multidisciplinary journal, 6(1), 1-55.
30. Işık, E. (2013). Üni̇versi̇te öğrenci̇leri̇ni̇n i̇dealleri̇ndeki̇ i̇şe yönelmeleri̇ne engel olduğunu düşündükleri̇ i̇şlevsel olmayan kari̇yer i̇nançlari. Türkiye Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 172(172), 363-372. https://doi.org/10.20296/tsad.72281
31. Johnson, M. K., Mortimer, J. T., & Heckhausen, J. (2020). Work value transmission from parents to children: Early socialization and delayed activation. Work and Occupations, 47(1), 83-119.
32. Johnston, C. S. (2018). A systematic review of the career adaptability literature and future outlook. Journal of career assessment, 26(1), 3-30.
33. Koçakoğlu, M. G., & Yalçın, S. B. (2020). Kariyer gelişim sürecinde aile. International Social Mentality and Researcher Thinkers Journal, 6(37), 1921-1929.
34. Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (1996). Social cognitive approach to career development: An overview. The career development quarterly, 44(4), 310-321.
35. Li, Z. (2021). Constructing a career: An investigation of the career construction model of adaptation in recent graduates(Yayımlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi). Carleton University.
36. Michel, J. S., Mitchelson, J. K., Pichler, S., & Cullen, K. L. (2010). Clarifying relationships among work and family social support, stressors, and work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76(1), 91-104.
37. Murphy, K. A., Blustein, D. L., Bohlig, A. J., & Platt, M. G. (2010). The college‐to‐career transition: An exploration of emerging adulthood. Journal of Counseling & Development, 88(2), 174-181.
38. Odle-Dusseau, H. N., Herleman, H. A., Britt, T. W., Moore, D. D., Castro, C. A., & McGurk, D. (2013). Family-supportive work environments and psychological strain: A longitudinal test of two theories. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 18(1), 27-36.
39. Özden, K., & Sertel – Berk, Ö. (2017). Kariyer Stresi Ölçeği’nin (KSÖ) Türkçe’ye uyarlanması ve psikometrik özelliklerinin sınanması. Psikoloji Çalışmaları, 37(1), 35-51.
40. Özünlü, M. B. & Bacanlı, F. (2015). Kariyer Seçiminde Aile Etkisi Ölçeği’nin lise öğrencileri için Türkçe’ye uyarlanması: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışmaları. Türk Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 13(1), 13 – 32. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/tebd/issue/26087/274922
41. Pisker, B. (2022). Family influence in career choices. Social Pathology and Prevention, 8(1), 69-75.
42. Powers, R. L., Griffith, J., & Maybell, S. (1993). Adlerian life style assessment: A structured approach.
43. Preacher, K. J., & Kelley, K. (2011). Effect size measures for mediation models: Quantitative strategies for communicating indirect effects. Psychological Methods, 16(2), 93–115.
44. Reifman, A., Arnett, J. J., & Colwell, M. J. (2007). Emerging adulthood: Theory, assessment and application. Journal of Youth Development, 2(1), 37-48.
45. Salmela‐Aro, K., & Upadyaya, K. (2014). School burnout and engagement in the context of demands–resources model. British journal of educational psychology, 84(1), 137-151.
46. Saka, N., Gati, I., & Kelly, K. R. (2008). Emotional and personality-related aspects of career-decision-making difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment, 16(4), 403-424.
47. Savickas, M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of career construction. Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work, 1, 42-70.
48. Savickas, M. L., Nota, L., Rossier, J., Dauwalder, J. P., Duarte, M. E., Guichard, J., … & van Vianen, A. E. (2009). Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st century. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(3), 239-250.
49. Savickas, M. L. (2011). Career counseling.American Psychological Association.
50. 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(2nd ed., pp. 147-183). John Wiley & Sons.
51. Savickas, M. L. (2015). Life-design counseling manual. Rootstown, OH, USA: Mark L. Savickas.
52. 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.
53. Savickas, M. L., Porfeli, E. J., Hilton, T. L., & Savickas, S. (2018). The student career construction inventory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 106, 138-152.
54. Sevinç, A., & Siyez, D. M. (2018). Öğrenci kariyer yapılandırma envanteri’nin Türkçe uyarlaması: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. İş ve İnsan Dergisi, 5(2), 157-168.
55. Spurk, D., & Hofer, A. (2025). Adapt to survive? Attenuating indirect effects of career adaptability on exhaustion via career insecurity. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. Advance online publication.
56. Super, D. E. (1990). A life span, life-space approach to career development. In Career Choice and Development,2nd ed. (Eds D Brown, L Brooks):197–261. San Francisco, Jossey–Bass.
57. Wang, Y. (2023). The influence of overparenting on college students’ career indecision: A moderated mediation analysis. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 4569-4582.
58. Whiston, S. C., & Keller, B. K. (2004). The influences of the family of origin on career development: A review and analysis. The counseling psychologist, 32(4), 493-568.
59. Tanner, J. L., & Arnett, J. J. (2016). The emergence of emerging adulthood: The new life stage between adolescence and young adulthood. In Routledge handbook of youth and young adulthood(pp. 50-56). Routledge.
60. Turner, S. L., Steward, J. C., & Lapan, R. T. (2004). Family factors associated with sixth‐grade adolescents’ math and science career interests. The Career Development Quarterly, 53(1), 41-52.
61. TÜİK, Adrese Dayalı Nüfus Kayıt Sistemi Sonuçları (2023). Yaş grubu ve cinsiyete göre il/ilçe merkezi ve belde/köy nüfusu tablosu.