# Profiles of Career Indecision: A Person-Centered Approach with Italian Late Adolescents

## TL;DR

This study identifies four distinct profiles of career indecision among Italian late adolescents to help tailor career guidance interventions.

## Contribution

The novel use of a person-centered approach reveals distinct profiles of career indecision in late adolescents.

## Key findings

- Four profiles of career indecision were identified: Lower, High, Very High, and Moderate Indecision.
- Being in the last year of high school significantly predicted membership in the High and Very High Indecision profiles.
- The study provides practical implications for career interventions based on these profiles.

## Abstract

Choosing career paths in today’s contemporary labor market complexity is becoming more and more challenging for adolescents and young people. Career indecision could take over, and assessing its facets could guide career interventions to support the career decision-making process. To create increasingly tailored career guidance interventions, using a person-centered approach, this study aimed to understand whether profiles of late adolescents based on their career decision-making difficulties might be circumscribed. A total of 776 Italian late adolescents took part in this study. The assessment of career decision-making difficulties was conducted through the Career Decision-Making Questionnaire (CDDQ). To determine the optimal number of profiles, a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) using the stepwise approach was used. Moreover, a multinomial logistic regression was conducted to study whether school grade and sex predicted profile membership. LPA revealed a four-profile model: “Lower Indecision” (Profile 1, 39%), “High Indecision” (Profile 2, 23%), “Very High Indecision” (Profile 3, 7%) and “Moderate Indecision” (Profile 4, 31%). Being enrolled in the last year of high school significantly predicted belonging to Profile 2 and Profile 3. Practical implications were discussed in light of these findings.