Middle school students’ career parental support and adolescent–parent career congruence: the mediating role of self-efficacy

Abstract Social cognitive career theory accepts that an individual’s career journey occurs through the interaction of multiple factors. The career development process includes internal or external factors’ positive or negative effects. This study aims to examine the mediating role of career and talent development self-efficacy, which expresses the belief about a person’s ability, in the relationship between two variables related to parents (adolescent–parent career adaptation—career-related parental support), which is an important factor in the career development of secondary school students. The model was tested with data collected from 652 secondary school students. The results showed that career and ability self-efficacy had a partial mediating role between career-related parental support and adolescent–parent career adjustment. Suggestions are presented to increase adolescent–parent harmony.