Career decision-making competence: formulation and testing of a measurement model.

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. October 2011. Major:Psychology. Advisor: Dr. Jo-Ida Hansen. 1 computer file (PDF); x, 127 pages, appendix A.The study of career decision-making (CDM) has generated a number of constructs and assessment tools that have served to inform and facilitate the delivery of effective interventions. With the intention of promoting greater conceptual clarity and consistency, the construct CDM competence is proposed and defined here as success in completing CDM tasks typically required of individuals during certain developmental periods and within a specific sociocultural context. Toward the central goal of developing a valid measurement model of CDM competence, this study first used EFA to explore the structure of CDM competence to guide the formulation of a measurement model and then tested the CDM model in relation to latent constructs of social and general competence with structural equation modeling (SEM). For female (n= 228), male (n = 143), and entire (n = 371) samples, the EFA resulted in the retention of two factors that were interpreted as a general CDM competence factor and a distress and inadequacy of information factor. Comparison of separate EFA results for females and males suggested the variable of self-exploration may play a greater role in the structure of CDM competence for females than males. From the SEM, fit indices suggested that the data poorly fit the models with scales representing CDM, interpersonal and general competence latent factors for the female, male, and total samples