Career‐related parental support and learning engagement: Exploring the mediation pathways of career adaptability and life meaning

Abstract

Parents greatly affect youth's vocational and educational development. The objective of the study was to investigate how parental support in career development affects adolescents’ learning engagement and the mediating effects of four career adaptability aspects and life meaning. The participants were 516 high school students from Guangdong, China. The study found that: (1) Career‐related parental support had a positive impact on learning engagement; (2) career confidence and life meaning acted as mediators connecting career‐related parental support with learning engagement; and (3) there was a chain mediation path among career‐related parental support, career concern, control, and confidence, life meaning, and learning engagement. Our findings add to the prevailing literature by confirming and extending self‐determination theory as well as career development and systems theory. Based on these findings, we hope that schools and parents may implement some interventions to promote the academic engagement of students.