THE DESIGN AND USE OF A MEASURE OF DYSFUNCTIONAL CAREER THOUGHTS AMONG ADULTS, COLLEGE-STUDENTS, AND HIGH-SCHOOL-STUDENTS - THE CAREER THOUGHTS INVENTORY

This article reviews the impact of dysfunctional career thinking on ca reer choice, the use of cognitive restructuring to identify, challenge , and alter dysfunctional cognition, and the limitations of existing r eadiness screening and cognitive restructuring procedures. The recentl y developed Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) can be used by practitione rs to assist adults, college students, and high school students to ide ntify, challenge, and alter dysfunctional career thoughts, and then su bsequently take action to make career choices. The cognitive informati on processing and cognitive therapy theoretical bases of the instrumen t are described, followed by a discussion of the development of the CT I and the CTI Workbook. Data are then presented on the readability, st andardization, reliability (internal consistency and stability), and v alidity (content, construct, convergent, and criterion) of the measure . The use of the CTI is then described in terms of screening, needs as sessment, and learning. Issues related to terminology, diversity, and utility are also discussed. The article concludes with a discussion of preliminary experience in using the CTI in practice.