A transition from elementary to high school represents a very profound change and a potential source of stress, as it often requires young adolescents to make significant professional decisions. This topic was the focus of the present study in which 303 Croatian students attending their final year of elementary school completed measures of career decision self-efficacy, emotional stability, emotional competence, and concerns regarding the upcoming transition. The results indicated emotional competence as a statistically significant predictor of career decision self-efficacy, whereas emotional stability was revealed as a significant predictor of career concerns. Furthermore, a moderating effect of gender and a mediating role of career decision self-efficacy were revealed in this context. These findings provide novel evidence regarding the complex relationship between individuals' vocational self-beliefs and emotional processing and may be informative for vocational guidance interventions targeted at young adolescents undergoing similar educational transitions.

Despite its relevance and potential long-term consequences for each individual, the process of students' transition from elementary schools to high schools has still not been sufficiently explored nor understood. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the goals of describing how students make decisions regarding their future high schools and establishing the contribution of individuals' earlier school achievement and own perception of such achievement for their career decision self-efficacy and expectations regarding high schools. In addition, the study aimed to determine the relevance of career decision self-efficacy for the explored decision-making process. The obtained results indicate the correlation between students' evaluation of own academic performance, but not their objective school achievement, and their evaluation of personal efficacy in career decisionmaking. Perceived academic control, as well as students' knowledge of potential occupations and the world of work in general, were revealed as significant predictors of their career decision self-efficacy. Furthermore, career decision self-efficacy and perceived academic control were identified as significant predictors of students' high school expectations. The obtained results confirm the relevance of developing students' career competencies that are crucial for the formulation of more positive expectations and a more active engagement in choosing their future high schools.