Longitudinal effect of career-related parental support on vocational college students' proactive career behavior: a moderated mediation model

Guided by career construction theory and the proactive motivation model, the current study investigated the longitudinal effect of career-related parental support on vocational college students' proactive career behavior, as well as the mediating role of career adaptability and the moderating role of belief in a just world. We collected three-wave longitudinal data from a sample of 676 vocational college students with the Career-related Parental Support Scale (reported at time 1), Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-Short Form (reported at time 2), Proactive Career Behavior Scale (reported at time 3), and Belief in a Just World Scale (reported at time 1). After controlling for the demographic variables, our results showed that career-related parental support positively predicted vocational college students' proactive career behavior. Career adaptability partially mediated the relationship between career-related parental support and vocational college students' proactive career behavior. Moreover, the conditional indirect effects of career-related parental support in predicting proactive career behavior via career adaptability are stronger for vocational college students with high as opposed to low belief in a just world. These findings carry implications for career research both theoretically and practically.