Relation of depression and dysfunctional career thinking to career indecision

Depression and dysfunctional career thinking were investigated as component s of the state of career indecision. The participants were 215 undergraduat e students enrolled in an introductory psychology course at a large southea stern university. The Career Decision Scale was used to measure career inde cision. whereas the Beck Depression Inventory and Career Thoughts Inventory were used to measure depression and dysfunctional career thinking respecti vely, The relative contribution of depression. dysfunctional career thought s, and selected control variables were ascertained through hierarchical reg ression. Results support the existence of dysfunctional career thoughts as a significant component of career indecision. Depression associated signifi cantly with career indecision yet captured no significant independent varia tion in the regression model. Implications for career assessment and career counseling are discussed. (C) 2000 Academic Press.