Gender differences in the association of depression with career indecisiveness, career-decision status, and career-preference crystallization

Reuma Gadassi, Ayelet Waser, Itamar Gati

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Depression has detrimental effects on broad areas of functioning. However, its association with career decision-making factors has been largely unexplored. In the present study, we focused on the association between career decision-making difficulties, career-decision status, and career-preference crystallization, on the one hand, and depression, on the other. The hypothesis that high levels of career decision-making difficulties, less advanced decision status, and low levels of preference crystallization are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms was tested with a sample of 222 college seniors. In addition, since it has been found that work-related stressors are more often associated with depression among men than women, it was hypothesized that the associations between vocational factors and depression would be stronger for men than for women. The participants filled out online self-report questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms, emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties, careerdecision status, and career preferences. The results indicated that self-concept and identity-related career decision-making difficulties were associated with depressive symptoms for both men and women. In addition, for men, but not for women, less crystallization of career preferences also predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms. These results show how important it is for counseling psychologists to understand the role of the individual's vocational situation in depression.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)632-641
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Counseling Psychology
Volume62
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 American Psychological Association.

Keywords

  • Career indecision
  • Career indecisiveness
  • Career-preference crystallization
  • Depression
  • Gender differences

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