These findings contribute to an emerging knowledge base pertaining to the role of intraindividual and environmental factors in self-determination and QoL. In general, the study replicated findings pertaining to the relative contribution of intelligence to self-determination and QoL, added information about the potential contribution of social abilities, and pointed to the potentially important role of opportunities to make choices as a particularly important aspect of becoming more self-determined, at least in the context of residential settings.

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Family support has been found to influence both career self-efficacy beliefs and career decision making. The purpose of this study was to verify whether career search self-efficacy could mediate the relationship between family support and career indecision.Using a sample of 253 Italian youth, the study found that, for male adolescents attending a university-preparation high school, career search self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between family support and career indecision. Contrary to expectations, for female adolescents there was no direct relationship between family support and career indecision; however, family support was directly associated with career search self-efficacy and career search self-efficacy was associated with career indecision.

Using social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, ), this study examined the role of parents' and children's perceptions of parental support in adolescents' career choices. A total of 94 Italian adolescents (30 boys, 64 girls) and both of their parents (N = 188) participated in the study. The authors tested a fully mediated model between mothers' and fathers' perceptions of support and career choice through the indirect effect of adolescents' perceptions of parental support and career self‐efficacy. Results provided support for the model. Specifically, both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of support predicted their adolescents' career choice through the mediating effect of the youths' perceptions of parental support and career self‐efficacy. These results have important implications for practice and underscore that parents need to be involved very early on in their children's vocational development.

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