The Career Assessment Diagnostic Inventory: A New Career Indecision Assessment Tool

Abstract

and Baylor College of MedicineCareer decision making is an important aspect of life. At some point, one must decide what type of job to apply for or whether to seek the education required for a specific career. Many individuals struggle with these decisions. However, multidimensional measures of uncertainty are needed in providing guidance to such persons, because it appears that the indecision phenomenon is multidimensional and not restricted only to a need for career information. The present study evaluated a 98-item multidimensional measure of six career-indecision factors. Based on data provided by 539 college students, scale scores on the Career Assessment Diagnostic Inventory (CADI) had alpha coefficients ranging from .81 to .93 ( M = .89). Factor analysis and convergent validity results were both supportive of a conclusion that CADI scores are valid.Career decision making is an important aspect of life. At some point one must decide what type of job to apply for or whether to seek the education required for a specific career. Many individuals struggle with these decisions and seek the advice of career counselors. Although career decision making is an integral part of individual development, understanding the process of career decision making has perplexed researchers in the behavioral sciences for over 90 years.Theorists and researchers have explored various components that influence career decision making. Some theorists have conceptualized the career decision-making process in terms of developmental theory (Erickson,

The Italian Version of the Career Factors Inventory

“…Finally, convergent validity of the Italian version of the CFI was examined using zero-order correlations between the four subscales of CFI and other convergent scales concerning the constructs of trait anxiety, generalized indecisiveness, lack of information about occupations, and lack of information about myself. The results confirmed our hypotheses and they were in line with previous studies conducted in different countries (e.g., Chartrand et al, 1990; Vidal-Brown & Thompson, 2001). In particular, data showed that CFI career choice anxiety positively correlated with trait anxiety, as well as with indecisiveness, lack of information about occupations, and lack of information about myself.…”

“…In particular, data showed that CFI career choice anxiety positively correlated with trait anxiety, as well as with indecisiveness, lack of information about occupations, and lack of information about myself. The same results were found by Chartrand and colleagues (1990), while Vidal-Brown and Thompson (2001) in a sample of college students found higher correlations-but in the same direction of our results-between CFI career choice anxiety and career decision-making anxiety (r ¼ .77) and career commitment anxiety (r ¼ .69), respectively. Furthermore, generalized indecisiveness negatively correlated with indecisiveness, as well as with trait anxiety, lack of information about occupations, and lack of information about myself.…”

“…Unexpectedly, need for career information did not positively correlate with lack of information about occupations, while it positively correlated with lack of information about myself and negatively with indecisiveness. Nevertheless, these results confirmed those by Vidal-Brown and Thompson (2001). It is important to acknowledge that several of the findings yielded only low to moderate correlations between variables.…”

“…Cronbach’s αs for each of the four subscales will be calculated after testing the factorial structure of the questionnaire (see Results section). Vidal-Brown and Thompson (2001) evaluated its concurrent and convergent validity, among college students, with other questionnaires, finding that career choice anxiety subscales positively correlated with career decision-making anxiety and career commitment anxiety and negatively correlated with career choice certainty and vocational identity. As regards to generalized indecisiveness, the authors found significant correlations with decision-making confusion and anxiety.…”

A Phenomenological Study of Career Anxiety Among College Students

“…The research generally and consistently indicates that anxiety is positively related to college students’ career indecision (Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, ; Fuqua, Blum, & Hartman, ; Fuqua, Newman, & Seaworth, ; Miller & Rottinghaus, ). More specifically, career‐related anxiety is negatively associated with self‐exploratory and career information‐seeking behavior (Germeijs, Verschueren, & Soenens, ), career choice certainty and vocational identity (Vidal‐Brown & Thompson, ), coping and perceived control (Weinstein, Healy, & Ender, ), and general career decision making (Saka, Gati, & Kelly, ).…”