Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul;97(5):1407-1419.
doi: 10.1002/jad.12507. Epub 2025 Apr 20.

Resources and Personal Adjustment for Career Transitions Among Adolescents: A Latent Profile Analysis

Anna Parola  1 , Jenny Marcionetti  2
Affiliations

Resources and Personal Adjustment for Career Transitions Among Adolescents: A Latent Profile Analysis

Anna Parola et al. J Adolesc. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Introduction: Career transitions are considered to be the most challenging tasks in adolescence. Personal resources are important factors in coping with the difficulties encountered during transitions and help individuals to adjust more smoothly to these transitions. Using a person-centered approach, this study aims to identify typologies of personal resources in adolescents, that is career adaptability, hope, optimism and resilience and their association with personal adjustment.

Methods: Six hundred and twenty six Italian adolescents (M = 17.18; SD = 0.52) participated in the study. First, a latent profile analysis was conducted using personal resources. Then, a MANOVA was conducted to capture the association of resource profiles with life satisfaction and anxiety/depression.

Results: The results of the profile analysis revealed four profiles of personal resources. Pessimists (n = 123), Unbalanced (n = 63), Career Maladjusted (n = 187), and Career Adjusted (n = 253). The profile with high resources (Career Adjusted) show a higher personal adjustment, while profiles with low resources show lower personal adjustment. In particular, the Unbalanced profile, characterized by the lowest level of hope and resilience, shows the lowest personal adjustment with medium-high anxiety/depression and low life satisfaction.

Conclusions: The results suggest that career adaptability resources alone may not be sufficient to promote good personal adaptation and therefore the readiness to cope with career transitions in adolescence, but that these should be accompanied, in particular, by good levels of hope and resilience.

Keywords: adolescence; career adaptability; career transition; latent profile analysis; personal adjustment; resilience; vision about future.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Profiles of personal resources.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Achenbach, T. M. , and Rescorla L. A.. 2001. Manual for the ASEBA School‐Age Forms & Profiles. University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.
    1. Akaike, H. 1987. “Factor Analysis and AIC.” Psychometrika 52: 317–332.
    1. Asai, K. , Breda T., Rain A., Romanello L., and Sangnier M.. 2020. “Education, Skills and Skill Mismatch. A Review and Some New Evidence Based on the PIAAC Survey.” In Rapport IPP n°, 26. Institut des Politiques Publiques.
    1. Baltes, P. B. , Reese H. W., and Lipsitt L. P.. 1980. “Life‐Span Developmental Psychology.” Annual Review of Psychology 31, no. 1: 65–110. - PubMed
    1. Bimrose, J. , and Hearne L.. 2012. “Resilience and Career Adaptability: Qualitative Studies of Adult Career Counseling.” Journal of Vocational Behavior 81, no. 3: 338–344.

LinkOut - more resources