The impact of lack of parental career engagement on students' career adapting behavior: a moderated mediation model

While existing research has investigated the impact of parental career-specific behaviors on students' career development, there is a small amount of research on the relationship between lack of parental career engagement and students' career adapting behavior. Drawing upon the Career Construction Theory (Savickas, 2005, 2013), this study aimed to examine the relationship between the lack of parental career engagement and students' career adapting behavior. Specifically, we examined the mediating role of career adaptability and the moderating role of positive coping style. A sample of 4252 college students from China was recruited for the research, and they responded to career adaptability, student career construction inventory, positive coping style, and lack of parental career engagement. Results showed that the lack of parental engagement does not have a direct influence on students' career adapting behavior, but it indirectly affected adapting through the mediating role of career adaptability. Additionally, positive coping style positively moderated the impact of the lack of parental engagement on career adaptability. And this moderating effect manifests particularly in cases of low positive coping style. The implications of these findings contribute to understanding the transition of university students from academia to the professional realm in the future. They highlight the importance of parental involvement in career-related matters and the role of career adaptability and positive coping styles in promoting students' successful career adaptation.