Factors influencing career decision making in adolescents and adults

The structure of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) was validated and compared across two age cohorts using structural equation modelling. One hundred and twenty-one upper high school students (78 females, 43 males - mean age 15.92 years) participated in Study 1, while 127 adults (86 females, 41 males - mean age 33.44) completed the survey for study 2. The model confirmed the multidimensional structure of the CDDQ, although five first-order factors provided a better fitting model than the three higher-order factors postulated. The model fit both groups, suggesting that a common pattern of difficulties was experienced by people of different ages, although older career decoders reported fewer difficulties on all CDDQ subscales than did students. [Author abstract]