Abstract
We created a new, 8-item scale called “Career Student Planning Scale (CSPS)” for a valid and reliable measure regarding college students’ career planning during a traumatic event, such as a pandemic. CSPS is conceptually similar to the career decision-making difficulty questionnaire (CDDQ) and the career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) scale. CSPS leans towards questions about college students’ perceptions about career planning, rather than intuitions about career decision-making; it also inquires about how participants conceptualize about their career plans to be correct, rather than the more extreme idea about how their intuitions are correct: we developed this scale to capture the latter construct. We included the coronavirus anxiety scale (CAS), CDDQ, the general procrastination scale (GPS), and the CDSE short form (CDSE-SF) as covariates to ensure that CSPS has distinct effects on their career paths. Our findings indicate the CSPS has acceptable psychometric properties and demonstrates a valuable input to those measures.
Keywords: COVID-19 anxiety, career decision self-efficacy (CDSE), career student planning scale (CSPS), procrastination
1. Introduction
Given the extensive threats caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, college students’ mental health and career planning have become critical priorities across university campuses. Due to the novelty of this pandemic, little has been investigated on the relationship between coronavirus-related anxiety and young adults’ career decision making. Mahmud et al. (2020) found that fear of COVID-19 impacts career decisions through its inherent depression issues. This coincides with other empirical findings that show (a) young adults are more anxious about their careers, and (b) this anxiety has an impact on future career plans (Campagna & Curtis, 2007; Mojgan et al., 2011). Furthermore, Işik’s (2012) study showed there is a significantly negative relationship between career decision-making self-efficacy and trait anxiety. Together, these studies indicate that anxiety affects both young adults and college students with their careers, which is why we examine whether coronavirus anxiety affects both career planning and indecision. Career measures, like the career decision-making difficulty questionnaire (CDDQ) and the career decision-making self-efficacy scale (short form) (CDSE-SF) are widely used psychometric assessments, but how researchers quantify young adults’ attitudes regarding career planning has scarcely been explored (Gati et al., 1996; Gray et al., 2020; Lee et al., 2018; Tomaszek & Muchacka-Cymerman, 2020).
2. Objective
Psychometric assessment has an important role in health assessment and research. We created the 8-item college student planning scale (CSPS) to better quantify these variables. CSPS examines college students’ career plans to identify those affected with the pandemic’s uncertainty with most issues, including occupations and careers. We also investigated the degree to which CSPS relates to pre-existing and validated measures (i.e., the coronavirus anxiety scale [CAS], CDDQ, general procrastination scale [GPS], and the career decision self-efficacy scale [CDSE-SF]) during the recent pandemic. We examined the CSPS’s factorial structure and internal validity to better establish psychometric validation of the measure.
3. Methods
Participants (N =101) were originally recruited at small, liberal arts colleges in southeast Arkansas and southern California, except that one failed to answer some questions—which was excluded. Each participant voluntarily participated in the study, which was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and carried out with APA ethical standards. All participants received a copy of the consent form at the beginning of the study, and we provided debriefing after its completion. They completed the CSPS, CDDQ, GPS, and CDSE-SF in an online format and received extra credit for their involvement. The order of each questionnaire was randomized per participant to avoid an order effect. One-hundred participants were included for data analysis (M = 22.25, SD = 6.6; 77 females and 22 males). There were 25 Black (or African-American), 67 White, and 7 identifying with “others.” Four were listed as college freshmen, 34 were sophomores, 26 were juniors, and 33 were seniors enrolled full-time. Two listed having post-baccalaureate degrees.
A simple regression analysis was conducted to see how CSPS relates to CDDQ and CDSE-SF. The coefficient alpha of CSPS was 0.85, which is a desirable value as a measure, according to Cortina (1993). The CSPS’ significant correlation coefficients used solid planning (r = .29, p < .01) and management (r = .28, p < .01) showing potential validity evidence of its content, whether it is valid to the extent of planning management. After assessing reliability and validity of the CSPS, a regression analysis was conducted for the impact of CAS on CSPS. Two simple regressions of the CSPS were conducted to see the impact of the CDDQ and CDSE-SF.
4. Results
In all analyses, data from the CSPS, CAS, CDDQ, GPS, and CDSE-SF were used as continuous variables. Correlation coefficients among variables are shown in Table 1. CAS consists of 5 items, so we assume the measure has a tendency to assess anxiety related to COVID-19. Results of the first simple linear regression indicates that the effect between the CAS and CSPS was insignificant. The skewness value, 3.24, indicates a positively skewed response trend. Significant findings were assessed when examining the CSPS’s correlations with CDDQ, GPS, and CDSE (see Table 1).
Table 1.
Correlations between CSPS, CDSE-SF, GPS, and CAS
| CSPS | CDSE-SF | GPS | CDDQ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDSE-SF | 0.52*** | |||
| GPS | -0.27** | -0.29** | ||
| CDDQ | -0.47*** | -0.33*** | 0.12 | |
| CAS | -0.07 | -0.06 | 0.04 | 0.16 |
p < .001 ‘***’, p < .01 ‘**’, p < .05 ‘*’
We also examined the factor structure among the given measures. Table 2 shows the item-level descriptive scale and internal consistency estimates among CSPS, CDSE-SF, GPS, CDDQ, and CAS. In the two regression analyses for CSPS, the new measure had a strong impact on CDDQ and CDSE-SF. The first CSPS simple linear regression indicated a significant effect on CDSE-SF, (F(1, 98) = 37.19, p < .001, R2 = .28) and how CSPS was a strong predictor (t = 6.1, p < .001) of the model. The second CSPS-SF simple linear regression concluded there was a similarly significant effect on CDDQ, (F(1, 98) = 27.67, p < .001, R2 = .22) and that CSPS was also a significant predictor (t = -5.3, p < .001) of the model.
Table 2.
Internal consistency estimates of CSPS, CDSE-SF, GPS, CDDQ, and CAS
| No. of items | Coefficient alpha | Item scale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSPS | 8 | 0.85 | 1-5 |
| CDSE-SF | 25 | 0.95 | 1-5 |
| GPS | 20 | 0.79 | 1-5 |
| CDDQ | 32 | 0.93 | 1-9 |
| CAS | 5 | 0.96 | 0-4 |
5. Discussion
The current study examined the correlation between CSPS, CAS, CDDQ, GPS, and CDSE-SF. We first examined how COVID-19 anxiety affects college students and career planning; however, no correlation was shown between them. The results suggest that CAS is case-sensitive, so we caution against its use as a measure of anxiety for the general population. The CAS was newly developed in April 2020 when COVID-19 peaked and participants were a bit older (Lee, 2020). Previous literature shows a relationship between anxiety and career indecision (Campagna & Curtis, 2007; Işik, 2012; Mojgan et al., 2011; Tomaszek & Muchacka-Cymerman, 2020), so future research must focus on the correlation between generalized anxiety and career planning. More independent studies that investigate the psychometric properties of the CSPS are also necessary to establish the scientific rigor of this research.
No significant relationship was found between the CAS and CSPS, but our findings suggest moderate-sized correlations between CSPS-SF and CDDQ, and GPS and CDSE. A significant negative correlation was found between CSPS and CDDQ (r = -.47, p < .001). This suggests that college students will face fewer career difficulties if they plan for their future careers, possibly with some backup vocations. We found that the CSPS is negatively correlated with the GPS (r = -.27, p < .001), suggesting that factors related to procrastination may instigate career planning as well as decision difficulties. A significant positive relationship was found between the CSPS and CDSE-SF (r = .52, p < .001), indicating how adequate planning for a future career may allow college students to feel more confident about this decision. Overall, our study shows that CSPS can be a reliable, unidimensional construct for career planning in university samples, along with the general population.
6. Conclusion and Future Directions
This study serves as a psychometric analysis of the CSPS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus-related anxiety has been a serious issue affecting young adults’ career planning and decisions, so we attempted to assess if COVID-19 anxiety affects the relationship between CSPS, CDDQ, GPS, and CDSE-SF among U.S. college students. The CAS was created for researchers and health professionals to identify anxiety and uncertainty in this growing pandemic, so the quality of our measures will hopefully provide solid evidence of how these measures were in fact examined, helping researchers select the best assessment plan.
One possible explanation about not finding a significant relationship between CAS and CSPS could be that young adults do not have an excessive fear of death, on which the 5 items of CAS specifically focus. All items ask about one’s physiologically-based anxiety reaction to COVID-19-related symptoms, which many young adults may not experience. Future studies will examine generalized anxiety with these measures about whether generalized anxiety is predictive of the actual population, rather than their current involvement with the recent pandemic.
We found interesting relationships between the CSPS and other measures in this study (i.e., the CDDQ, GPS, and CDSE-SF). In conclusion, the CSPS is a promising measure with relevance to college students. The higher scores of the CDSE correspond to higher levels of CSPS, which may contribute to growing mental symptoms, suggesting that without proper planning, this can lead to distraction in daily situations, such as college learning.
The current study represents a measurement of career planning, which will help us conduct future research related to college students’ mental health and professional development, with a mediation-based personality theory and career framework. The assessment of psychometric properties promotes the selection of valid and reliable instruments, so that researchers can ensure the internal validity of their results. An empirical investigation on how COVID-19-related anxiety impacts college students and their career plans should contribute to the current literature and to future researchers involved with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acknowledgements
We thank Drs. Jennifer Miller and Hyowon Ban for assistance with data collection, as well as Dr. Carol Zurcher for carefully reviewing and editing the manuscript. We are deeply grateful to them for their encouragement and support.
This article has been accepted because it is deemed to be scientifically sound, has the correct controls, has appropriate methodology and is statistically valid, and has been sent for additional statistical evaluation and met required revisions.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Funding information
This work was supported by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education as a form of student undergraduate research fellowship [SURF] (MG & SL, grant number 544060-2100-212111).
Author contributions
MG, MK, and SL conceived and designed the study. MG and SL conducted data collection, MG and MK performed statistical analysis, and MG, MK, and SL wrote the article.
Data availability statement
Data for the experiments that is reported here is available upon request. The experiment was not preregistered.
Compliance with ethical standards
The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, revised in 2008.
References
- Campagna, C. G., & Curtis, G. J. (2007). So worried I don’t know what to be: Anxiety is associated with increased career indecision and reduced career certainty. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 17, 91–96. 10.1375/ajgc.17.1.91. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 98–104. 10.1037/0021-9010.78.1.98. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision making. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 510–526. 10.1037/0022-0167.43.4.510. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- Gray, M. A., Lee, S., & Kim, M. (2020). Comparing self-reported emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and personality traits in college students’ career decision-making: A pilot study In Lee S. (Ed.), Exploring the opportunities and challenges of college students (pp. 205–217). NOVA Science Publishers, Inc. [Google Scholar]
- Işik, E. (2012). The relationship of career decision self-efficacy, trait anxiety, and affectivity among undergraduate students. Psychological Reports: Human Resources & Marketing, 111, 805–813. 10.2466/01.09.10.PR0.111.6.805-813. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lee, S., Kim, M., Mendoza, J. S., & McDonough, I. M. (2018). Addicted to cellphones: Exploring the psychometric properties between the nomophobia questionnaire and obsessiveness in college students. Heliyon, 4, e00895. https://doi.org/j.heliyon.2018.e00895. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lee, S. A. (2020). Coronavirus anxiety scale: A brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety. Death Studies, 44, 303–401. 10.1080/07481187.2020.1748481. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mahmud, M. S., Talukder, M. U., & Rahman, S. M. (2020). Does ‘fear of COVID-19’ trigger career anxiety? An empirical investigation considering depression from COVID-19 as a mediator. Journal of Social Psychiatry, 67, 1–11. 10.1177/0020764020935488. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mojgan, F. N., Kadir, R. A., & Soheil, S. (2011). The relationship between state and trait anxiety with career indecision of undergraduate students. International Education Studies, 4, 31–35. 10.5539/ies.v4n3p31. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- Tomaszek, K., & Muchacka-Cymerman, A. (2020). Thinking about my existence during COVID-19, I feel anxiety and awe—The mediating role of existential anxiety and life satisfaction on the relationship between PTSD symptoms and post-traumatic growth. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 7062. 10.3390/ijerph17197062. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]