Longitudinal Interrelations of Career Adaptability Dimensions among Students in General Upper Secondary School

This study utilized a cross-lagged panel analysis to examine the longitudinal interrelations among the four dimensions of career adaptability—namely, concern, control, curiosity, and confidence—during general upper secondary education and to examine their association with intentional gap year planning at the end of upper secondary school. The participants (214 boys and 243 girls) were Finnish general upper secondary school students from six different schools who completed questionnaires at three time points across their three-year academic program. The results revealed moderate stability and strong concurrent associations among the assessed dimensions, but relatively few cross-lagged effects (i.e., concern predicting later curiosity, control predicting later confidence). There were also dynamic, partly reversing associations identified between concern and control across time. In the final year of the academic program, higher career control was associated with a greater likelihood of planning an intentional gap year. Taken together, these findings suggest that career adaptability operates as a dynamic system of interacting resources whose role in career-related decisions varies across time and decision-making contexts.