Brief report: Cross-informant ratings of self- and other-regulation at career transitions in adolescence

Individual initiative is required to successfully master career transitions in adolescence, and also parents play an important role in this process. Past research largely omitted co-agency in transition-related activities between adolescents and their parents, which could be described in terms of self- and other-regulation. The present pilot study examined adolescents’ and mothers’ career-specific regulatory behaviors as perceived from both agents’ perspectives. 38 German adolescents rated importance and engagement in one transition-related personal goal and reported on intensity of career exploration activities. Furthermore, they reported on their perceptions of mothers’ career-related behaviors and confidence in their offspring’s transition management. All measures were also assessed from the mothers’ point of view. Results revealed associations within and across family members’ ratings that showed similarities as well as differences in perceptions of how behaviors associate. Partial correlation analyses showed that specific maternal behavior not contingent upon her general warmth associated with child behavior.