CDDQ-pubs-on-and Abstracts
Publications on the Career Decision-Making Difficulties questionnaire (CDDQ)
Updated 12 January 2014
(a) List of publications on the CDDQ and (b) Abstracts of these papers
List of publications on the CDDQ
Published
Albion, M. J. (2000). Career decision making difficulties of adolescent boys and girls. Australian
Journal of Career Development, 9, 2, 14-19.
Albion, M. J., & Fogarty, G.J. (2002). Factors influencing career decision making in adolescents
and adult. Journal of Career Assessment. 10, 91-126.
Albion, M. J., & Fogarty, G.J. (2005). Career decision making for young elite athletes: Are we
ahead on points?. Australian Journal of Career Development. 14(1), 51-62.
Amir, T., & Gati, I. (2006). Facets of career decision-making difficulties. British Journal of
Guidance and Counselling, 34, 483-503.
Amir, T., Gati, I., Kleiman, T., & Saada, T. (2004). Using the Internet to diagnose high school
students' career-related decision-making difficulties. Hayiutz Hachinuchi, 13, 189-216 (In
Hebrew).
Amir, T., Gati, I., & Kleiman, T. (2008). Understanding and Interpreting career decision-making
difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment. 16 , 281 - 309.
Arulmani, G., & Nag-Arulmani, S. (2006). Work Orientations and Responses to Career Choices
- Indian Regional Survey (WORCC-IRS). Draft Report for discussion at the National
Consultation on Career Psychology (NCCP) ,6th and 7th January 2006 ,Whitefield,
Bangalore, India.
Creed, P. A., & Yin, W. O. (2006). Reliability and Validity of a Chinese Version of the Career
Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire. International Journal for Educational and
Vocational Guidance, 6, 47-63.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2011). Promoting Emotional Intelligence and Career Decision
Making Among Italian High School Students. Journal of Career Assessment, 6, 47-63.
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2009). Emotional intelligence, personality traits and career
decision difficulties. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 9,
135-146.
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2012). Incremental variance of the core self-evaluation
construct compared to fluid intelligence and personality traits in aspects of decisionmaking. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 196-201.
Di Fabio, A., Palazzeschi, L., & Asulin-Peretz, L. (2012). Career Indecision Versus
Indecisiveness: Associations With Personality Traits and Emotional Intelligence. Journal
of Career Assessment, 21, 42-56. DOI: 10.1177/1069072712454698
Di Fabio, A., Palazzeschi, L., & Bar On, R. (2012). The role of personality traits, core
self‐ evaluation, and emotional intelligence in career decision making difficulties. Journal
of Employment Counseling, 49, 118-129. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1920.2012.00012.x
Fouad, N., Cotter, W. E., & Kantamneni, N.(2009). The effectiveness of a career decisionmaking course. Journal of Career Assessment, 19(1), 21-34.
Fouad, N. A., Guillen, A., Harris-Hodge, E., Henry, C., Novakovic, A., Terry, S., & Kantamneni,
N.(2006). Need, Awareness, and Use of Career Services for College Students. Journal of
Career Assessment, 14(4), 407-420.
Gaffner, D. C., & Hazler, R. J. (2002). Factors related to indecisiveness and career indecision in
undecided college students. Journal of College Student Development, 43, 317-26.
Gati, I. (2008). Career-Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ). F. T. L. Leong
(Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology, Volume 3: Career and Vocational Counseling. 14681469. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gati, I., Amir T., & Landman, S. (2010). Career counsellors’ perceptions of the severity of career
decision-making difficulties. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 38(4), 393-408.
Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decisionmaking. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 510-526.
Gati, I., Osipow, S. H., Krausz, M., & Saka, N. (2000). Validity of the career decision-making
difficulties questionnaire: Counselees' versus career counselors' perceptions. Journal of
Vocational Behavior, 56, 99-113.
Gati, I., & Saka, N. (2001a). High school students’ career related decision-making difficulties.
Journal of Counseling and Development. 79, 331-340.
Gati, I., & Saka, N. (2001b). Internet-based versus paper-and-pencil assessment: Measuring
career decision-making difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment, 9, 397-416.
Gati, I., Saka, N., & Krausz, M. (2001). “Should I use a computer-assisted career guidance
system?” It depends on where our career decision-making difficulties lie. British Journal
of Guidance and Counselling, 29, 301-321.
Gati, I., Saka, N., Malka, M., Orenshtein, A., Sharav, D., & Zarihan M. (2001). High school
students' career-related decision-making difficulties. Hayiutz Hachinuchi, 10, 11-38. (In
Hebrew)
Hijazi, Y., Tatar, M. & Gati, I. (2004). Career decision-making difficulties among Israeli and
Palestinian Arab high-school seniors. Professional School Counseling, 8, 64-72.
Kelly, K. R., & Lee, W. C. (2002a). Mapping the domain of career decision problems. Journal of
Vocational Behavior, 41, 302-326.
Kleiman, T., & Gati, I. (2004). Challenges of Internet-based assessment: Measuring career
decision-making difficulties. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and
Development, 37, 41-55.
Kleiman, T., Gati, I., Peterson, G., Sampson, J., Reardon, R., & Lenz, J. (2004). Dysfunctional
thinking and difficulties in career decision making. Journal of Career Assessment, 12,
213-331.
Koumoundourou, G., Tsaousis, I., & Kounenou, K. (2011). Parental influences on Greek
adolescents’ career decision making difficulties: The mediating role of core selfevaluations. Journal of Career Assessment, 19, 165–182.
Lancaster, P. L., Rudolph, C., Perkins, S., & Patten, T. (1999). Difficulties in career decision
making: A study of the reliability and validity of the career decision difficulties
questionnaire. Journal of Career Assessment, 4, 393-413.
Lease, S. H. (2004). Effect of Locus of Control, Work Knowledge, and Mentoring on career
decision-making difficulties: Testing the role of race and academic institution. Journal of
Career Assessment, 12, 239-254.
Leung, S. A., Hou, Z.-H., Gati, I., & Li, X. (2011). Effects of parental expectations and culturalvalues orientation on career decision-making difficulties of Chinese University students.
Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78, 11–20.Liu, C. J., Hao, F., & Li, S. (2006). A
preliminary report of Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire in a college
student sample. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 11, (in Chinese).
Liu, C. J., Hao, F., & Li, S. (2006). Career decision-making difficulties of college students and
its relationship with self-efficacy. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 14, 502–506.
doi:10.1037/t01482-000
Mau, W. C. (2001). Assessing career decision-making difficulties: A cross-cultural study.
Journal of Career Assessment, 9, 353-364.
Mau, W.C. (2004). Cultural dimensions of career decision-making difficulties. The Career
Development Quarterly, 53, 67-78.
Morgan, T., & Ness, D. (2003), Career decision making difficulties of first year students. The
Canadian Journal of Career Development, 2, 33-37.
Osipow, S. H., & Gati, I. (1998). Construct and concurrent validity of the career decision-making
difficulties questionnaire. Journal of Career Assessment, 6, 347-364.
Oztemel, K. (2013). Testing the validity of the emotional and personality-related career decisionmaking difficulties questionnaire in Turkish culture. Journal of Career Development, 40,
5, 390-407. doi: 10.1177/0894845312468060
Perţe, A., & Pătroc, D. (2012). Career decision difficulties. The effectiveness of a training
program. Romanian Journal of School Psychology, 9, 30-42.
Reese, R. J. & Miller, C. D. (2006). Effects of a university career development course on career
decision-making self-efficacy. Journal of Career Assessment, 14, 252–266.
Rui, D., & Li-Rong, L. (2006). A study on Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire
for undergraduate students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 14, 237–239.
Saka, N., Gati, I., & Kelly, K. R. (2008). Emotional and personality-related aspects of career
decision-making difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment 16, 403-424.
Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D., Mylonas, K., Argyropoulou, K., & Tampouri, S. (2012). Career
Decision-making Difficulties, Dysfunctional Thinking and Generalized Self-Efficacy of
University Students in Greece. World Journal of Education, 2, 1, 117-130.
doi:10.5430/wje.v2n1p117
Slaten, C. D., & Baskin, T. W. (2013). Examining the Impact of Peer and Family Belongingness
on the Career Decision-making Difficulties of Young Adults: A Path Analytic
Approach. Journal of Career Assessment, 22, 59-74. Doi:10.1177/1069072713487857
Taber, B. J. (2013). Time Perspective and Career Decision-Making Difficulties in Adults.
Journal of Career Assessment, 21, 200-209.
Tien, H. L. S. (2001). Career Decision-Making Difficulties Perceived by College Students in
Taiwan. Bulletin of Educational Psychology, 33(1), 87-98
Tien, H. L. S. (2005). The validation of the career decision making difficulties scale in a Chinese
culture. Journal of Career Assessment, 13, 114-127
Vahedi, S., Farrokhi, F., Mahdavi, A., & Moradi, S. (2012). Exploratory and Confirmatory
Factor Analysis of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire. Iranian
Journal of Psychiatry, 7, 2, 74-81.
Zhou, D., & Santos, A. (2007). Career decision-making difficulties of British and Chinese
international university students. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 35, 219235.
In Press
Gati, I. & Levin, N. (2014). Counseling for career decision-making difficulties: Measures and
methods. Career Development Quarterly.
Unpublished
Birle, D., Bonchis, E., Roman, D., & Crisnan, D. (2012). The efficiency of a training program on
reducing career decision-making difficulties. Unpublished manuscript, Psychology
Department, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania.
Ling, L., & Xiu-ying, S. (2010). Analysis on the sandtray characteristics of the College Students'
Career Decision Making Difficulty and the inspirations of the sandtray characteristics on
career development of college students DOI： CNKI:SUN:JYKO.0.2010-06-009
http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-JYKO201006009.htm
Tayler, B. C. (2007). The impact that career guidance counselling has on the level of career
indecision in the career decision-making process of late adolescents in Cape Town.
Ph.D.’s and Ed.D.’s
Brown, J. M. (2011). Utilizing a Web-Based Career Development Workshop to Address Career
Decision-Making Difficulty Among Community College Distance Learners. Ph.D., Old
Dominion University, 124 pages; 3455286.
Farrar, L.C. (2009). Relationships between vocational decision-making styles and career
decision-making difficulties of low socio-economic status high school students in
residential education. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and
Social Sciences, Vol 70(4-A), 1176 pages.
Lyn, P. (2008). The effects of a coaching program on students' career decision-making
difficulties. Ed.D., The University of Memphis, 149 pages; 3374773.
Quita, C.C. (2012). Career Thoughts and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy as Predictors of
Career Decision-Making Difficulties among Freshmen College Students. M.A., Ateneo de
Manila University, 11 pages.
Williams, K. (2013). Career decision-making difficulties among high school students: From the
perception of career counselors and high school principals. Ph.D., University of La Verne,
171 pages; 3573676.
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Abstracts of the papers on the CDDQ
Albion, M. J. (2000). Career decision making difficulties of adolescent boys and girls.
Australian Journal of Career Development, 9, 2, 14-19.
The Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ; Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, 1996)
was administered to investigate for gender differences in career decision making
difficulties faced by young people. As well as assessing their level of difficulties
according to the three subscales of the CDDQ – Lack of Readiness, Lack of Information,
and Inconsistent Information, measures were also obtained of students’ undecidedness,
their satisfaction with their decisional status, and their confidence in their current career
choice. The sample consisted of 347 Australian high school students (199 females, 148
males) from single-gender and coeducational schools in a regional city in South-East
Queensland. No gender differences were found in overall levels of career decidedness,
although boys reported a higher level of career knowledge, and girls indicated that they
were more motivated and more flexible with regard to careers. Type of school attended
had little impact on the outcomes measured in this study, with the only difference being
that students at single-gender schools were more undecided than students from
coeducational schools.
Albion, M. J., & Fogarty, G.J. (2002). Factors influencing career decision making in
adolescents and adult. Journal of Career Assessment. 10, 91-126.
The structure of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) was validated
and compared across two age cohorts using Structural Equation Modelling. One hundred and
twenty-one upper high school students (78 females, 43 males—mean age 15.92 years)
participated in Study 1, while 127 adults (86 females, 41 males—mean age 33.44 years)
completed the survey for Study 2. The model confirmed the multidimensional structure of the
CDDQ, although five first-order factors provided a better fitting model than the three higherorder factors postulated. The model fit both groups, suggesting that a common pattern of
difficulties was experienced by people of different ages, although older career deciders reported
fewer difficulties on all CDDQ subscales than did students.
Albion, M. J., & Fogarty, G.J. (2005). Career decision making for young elite athletes: Are
we ahead on points?. Australian Journal of Career Development. 14(1), 51-62.
A comparison is made between the career decision-making of high school students who are also
elite athletes and a sample of non-athlete students. The 226 athletes (111 females, 115 males) in
the study were on sporting scholarships with the Australian Institute of Sport or state/territory
institutions. Measures included the Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Athletic
Identity Measurement Scale. The nonathlete data were obtained from 272 high school students
(149 females, 123 males). Only three athletes indicated a singular focus on a career in
professional sport. There were significant relationships between athletic identity and career
decision difficulties, especially in relation to dysfunctional myths, and only one difference
between difficulties reported by athletes and non-athletes. Tentative conclusions are drawn about
the factors that impact on career decision making among elite athletes and possible directions for
future research.
Amir, T., & Gati, I. (2006). Facets of career decision-making difficulties. British Journal of
Guidance and Counselling, 34, 483-503.
The present research investigated the relations among the measured and the expressed career
decision-making difficulties in a sample of 299 young adults who intended to apply to college or
university. As hypothesised, the correlations between career decision-making difficulties, as
measured by the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ), and the expressed
difficulties were generally high (median = 0.64), but varied among the 10 difficulty categories
(range 0.35–0.82). Both measured and expressed difficulties correlated negatively with the
students’ career decision-making self-efficacy (−0.63 and −0.65, respectively). The correlations
between the CDDQ and both dimensions of the Vocational Decision Style Indicator were
negative but low (−0.25 for the introvert vs. extrovert dimension and −0.35 for the thinking vs.
feeling dimension). The correlations between the students’ scholastic aptitude test scores and
both measured and expressed difficulties were negligible (−0.03 and −0.08, respectively).
Participants with more crystallised career plans reported lower career decision-making
difficulties, higher career decision-making self-efficacy, and a higher ‘thinking’ (as opposed to
‘feeling’) vocational decision-making style. The theoretical and practical implications of these
findings are discussed.
Amir, T., Gati, I., Kleiman, T., & Saada, T. (2004). Using the Internet to diagnose high
school students' career-related decision-making difficulties. Hayiutz Hachinuchi, 13,
189-216 (In Hebrew).
Amir, T., Gati, I., & Kleiman, T. (2008). Understanding and Interpreting career decisionmaking difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment. 16 , 281 - 309.
This research develops and tests a procedure for interpreting individuals' responses in multiscale
career assessments, using the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ). In
Study 1, criteria for ascertaining the credibility of responses were developed, based on the
judgments of 39 career-counseling experts. In Study 2, the proposed estimate of the responses'
differentiation was validated, using the judgments of 140 experts. In Study 3, the procedure for
assessing the relative salience of the difficulties was developed and validated by the judgments
of Study 2 experts. In Study 4, criteria for determining the confidence in the interpretive
feedback, and the need to add reservations to the feedback provided, were validated by the
judgments of Study 1 experts. In Study 5, the four stages of interpretation were implemented,
using English and Hebrew versions of the CDDQ and Internet and paper-and-pencil versions.
Implications for the interpretation of other multiscale career-related measures are discussed.
Arulmani, G., & Nag-Arulmani, S. (2006). Work Orientations and Responses to Career
Choices - Indian Regional Survey (WORCC-IRS). Draft Report for discussion at the
National Consultation on Career Psychology (NCCP) ,6th and 7th January 2006
,Whitefield, Bangalore, India.
Creed, P. A., & Yin, W. O. (2006). Reliability and Validity of a Chinese Version of the
Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire. International Journal for
Educational and Vocational Guidance, 6, 47-63.
This study tested the applicability of the 34-item CDDQ (Gati & Saka, 2001) for use with
adolescents from the Peoples Republic of China. The study devised a Chinese version of the
scale using translation and back-translation, administered it to a sample of 514 Chinese
adolescents, tested the psychometric properties of the scale in terms of factor structure and
reliability, and examined its validity by testing associations with demographic variables (age,
gender, paid work experience, socioeconomic status, and academic achievement) and scales
tapping career decision-making self-efficacy and barriers. Results identified two stable factors
for the CDDQ, namely Lack of Information and Inconsistent Information, but failed to confirm
the third CDDQ factor of Readiness to make a career decision. Factor structure and reliability for
the two identified factors were sound, and these factors related in the expected directions to
demographic variables and the other career scales. Implications for use of the CDDQ in China
are highlighted, and recommendations are made for the revision of the Readiness dimension.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2011). Promoting Emotional Intelligence and Career
Decision Making Among Italian High School Students. Journal of Career Assessment,
6, 47-63.
This article evaluates the efficacy of a training program focused on increasing emotional
intelligence (EI), which was developed for Italian high school students. The training was
constructed using an ability-based model of EI. It was hypothesized that specific training would
increase both ability and self-reported EI and reduce levels of indecisiveness and career decision
difficulties. This article outlines relevant literature and provides a description of the intervention,
an evaluation of its efficacy, and a presentation of the results with regard to decisional problems.
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2009). Emotional intelligence, personality traits and career
decision difficulties. International Journal for Educational and Vocational
Guidance, 9, 135-146.
This study aims to take an in-depth look at the role of emotional intelligence and personality
traits in relation to career decision difficulties. The Italian version of the Career Decision
Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ), the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: Short (Bar-On
EQ-i: S), and the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ) were administered to 296 interns of the tertiary
sector. The emotional intelligence dimensions add a significant percentage of incremental
variance compared to variances due to personality traits with respect to career decision
difficulties. The results highlight the role of emotional intelligence and its relationship with
career decision difficulties
Di Fabio, A., & Palazzeschi, L. (2012). Incremental variance of the core self-evaluation
construct compared to fluid intelligence and personality traits in aspects of decisionmaking. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 196-201.
This study investigated the role of fluid intelligence, personality traits and core self-evaluation in
relation to aspects of decision-making (career decision-making difficulties, decisional styles,
indecisiveness). The Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM), the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ),
the Core Self-Evaluation Scale (CSES), the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire
(CDDQ), the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ), and the Indecisiveness Scale
(IS) were administered to 143 Italian high school students. The study revealed that the core selfevaluation construct added a significant percentage of incremental variance compared to
variances due to fluid intelligence and personality traits with respect to aspects of decisionmaking. The results highlight the role of the core self-evaluation construct and its relationship
with aspects of decision-making thereby offering new research and intervention perspectives.
Di Fabio, A., Palazzeschi, L., & Asulin-Peretz, L. (2012). Career Indecision Versus
Indecisiveness: Associations With Personality Traits and Emotional Intelligence.
Journal of Career Assessment, 21, 42-56. DOI: 10.1177/1069072712454698
The goal of the present study was to investigate the distinctions between career indecision and
indecisiveness. The different patterns of the associations between career indecision and
indecisiveness, on one hand, and personality traits, career decision-making self-efficacy,
perceived social support, and emotional intelligence, on the other, were studied in a sample of
361 university students. The results showed that career indecision, as measured by the Career
Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire, is most highly associated with emotional
intelligence, whereas career indecisiveness, as measured by the Indecisiveness scale, is most
highly associated with personality traits, and in particular with emotional stability. This pattern
of results was obtained for both women and men; however, the prediction was stronger for
indecision (R2 = .76 and .55, for women and men, respectively) than indecisiveness (R2 = .35 and
.28, for women than for men, respectively). Possible explanations of these differences are
discussed.
Di Fabio, A., Palazzeschi, L., & Bar On, R. (2012). The role of personality traits, core self
evaluation, and emotional intelligence in career decision-making difficulties. Journal
of Employment Counseling, 49, 118-129. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1920.2012.00012.x
This study examines the role of personality traits, core self-evaluation, and emotional
intelligence (EI) in career decision-making difficulties. Italian university students (N = 232)
responded to questions on the Big Five Questionnaire, Core Self-Evaluation Scale, Bar-On
Emotional Quotient Inventory, and Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire. It was
found that EI adds significant incremental variance compared with personality traits and core
self-evaluation in predicting career decision-making difficulties. The results draw attention to the
unique role of EI in career decision-making difficulties, offering new research opportunities and
intervention possibilities.
Fouad, N., Cotter, W. E., & Kantamneni, N.(2009). The effectiveness of a career decisionmaking course. Journal of Careee Assessment, 19(1), 21-34.
This study examined the effectiveness of a college career course designed to increase career
decision-making confidence and facilitate career exploration. Participants were 73 students from
a large Midwestern university (65.6% women, 34.4% men, mean age 18.56). Students were
given questionnaires assessing career decision-making difficulties, career decision-making self
efficacy, and perception of career and educational barriers during the first and fifteenth weeks of
the course. Repeated measures analyses were conducted to examine possible differences in
students’ responses before and after the course. Results indicated that on completion of the
course students’ career decision-making difficulties decreased, career self-efficacy increased,
and perceptions of barriers did not change.
Fouad, N. A., Guillen, A., Harris-Hodge, E., Henry, C., Novakovic, A., Terry, S., &
Kantamneni, N.(2006). Need, Awareness, and Use of Career Services for College
Students. Journal of Career Assessment, 14(4), 407-420.
This study examined whether university students were psychologically distressed or had
difficulties with career decisions to indicate whether they needed career services, whether they
were aware of the services offered by the campus counseling and career services, and finally,
whether they had used the services. Findings indicated that students indicated difficulties with
career decisions, high levels of psychological distress, and low levels of psychological wellbeing and that about half of students were aware of career services but much fewer had used
those services. There were relationships among psychological distress and career-related
variables for undecided students. Results are discussed with implications for career services on
university
Gaffner, D. C., & Hazler, R. J. (2002). Factors related to indecisiveness and career
indecision in undecided college students. Journal of College Student Development, 43,
317-26.
Undergraduates (56 women and 55 men, aged 18-21 yrs) from a small, private Mid-western
university of 2,700 completed the Career Factors Inventory, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,
and the Career Decisions Difficulties Questionnaire to explore the relationship between career
indecisiveness and 4 personality types, lack of career readiness, inadequacy of information, and
difficulty in decision making. Results identified lack of career readiness to be a better single
predictor of indecisiveness than any combination of variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c)
2010 APA, all rights reserved).
Gati, I. (2008). Career-Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ). F. T. L. Leong
(Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology, Volume 3: Career and Vocational Counseling. 1468-
1469. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gati, I., Amir T., & Landman, S. (2010). Career counsellors’ perceptions of the severity of
career decision-making difficulties. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 38(4),
393-408.
Individuals differ in the type and severity of the difficulties they face when making a career
decision. Relying on the Gati, Krausz, and Osipow (1996) taxonomy of career decision-making
difficulties, we elicited the judgements of 28 career counselling experts about factors that
contribute to the perceived severity of the difficulties. Difficulties attributed to an internal or
emotional cause were judged as more severe than difficulties attributed to an external or
cognitive cause. With respect to the consequences, difficulties that prevent making a decision, or
those that require long-term treatment, were judged as more severe than difficulties that may lead
to a non-optimal decision, and those that require a short-term treatment. The analysis revealed
that the factor that most affected the experts' severity judgements was the expected length of
treatment. Treatment priority was affected only partially by severity, reflecting the role of other
considerations.
Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decisionmaking. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 510-526.
A general theoretical taxonomy of career decision-making difficulties, based on decision theory,
has been developed. To examine the proposed taxonomy empirically, a questionnaire was
constructed in which the various possible difficulties in the theoretical model were represented
by respective statements. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 259 young Israeli
adults (aged 19–23 yrs) who were at the beginning of their career decision-making process and
to an American sample of 304 university students (aged 17–23 yrs). The observed relations
among the 10 scales, which represent the 10 theoretical categories of difficulties, and those
among the items within 2 selected categories, were similar in the 2 samples and compatible with
the expected relations derived from the theoretical model. The implications for career counseling
and research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
Gati, I., Osipow, S. H., Krausz, M., & Saka, N. (2000). Validity of the career decision-
making difficulties questionnaire: Counselees' versus career counselors' perceptions.
Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 99-113.
In order to examine the validity of the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire
(CDDQ), we obtained the CDDQ responses of 95 career counselees as well as their career
counselors' judgments of their counselees' career decision-making difficulties. The structure of
the decision-making difficulty categories of the CDDQ was similar to that proposed by Gati,
Krausz, and Osipow (1996). Also, when compared with a general sample of 259 young adults,
counselees reported significantly fewer difficulties related to lack of motivation, but more
difficulties in six other categories. As hypothesized, the median correlation between the 10 scale
scores of the counselees and the respective judgments of their counselors across the 10 difficulty
categories was positive: .37 for all counselee–counselor pairs and .49 for those 68 pairs where
the variance of both the CDDQ scale scores and the counselor's judgments exceeded 1.0 (on a 9point scale). Counselors and counselees agreed more strongly about difficulties related to
Readiness for the career decision-making process and Inconsistent Information than about
difficulties related to Lack of Information.
Gati, I., & Saka, N. (2001a). High school students’ career related decision-making
difficulties. Journal of Counseling and Development. 79, 331-340.
The present study examined the construct of career-related decision-making difficulties among
1,843 Israeli adolescents: choosing a high school (9th grade), choosing high school elective
courses (10th grade), and deciding on a military job preference (11th grade). Three versions of
the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) were constructed to match the 3
decision situations. The structures of the 10 difficulty categories of the revised CDDQ were
found similar to that proposed by I. Gati, M. Krausz, and S. H. Osipow (1996). Boys reported
higher difficulties than girls in external conflicts and dysfunctional beliefs. Research and
counseling implications are discussed.
Gati, I., & Saka, N. (2001b). Internet-based versus paper-and-pencil assessment:
Measuring career decision-making difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment, 9, 397416.
The present study compared English and Hebrew paper-and pencil and Internet versions of the
Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ). First, the response pattern of 417
clients who filled out the Hebrew paper-and-pencil version was compared with the response
pattern found for a matched sample of 738 individuals who visited a career-related Internet site
and filled out the Hebrew Internet version of the CDDQ. The internal consistency reliability of
the Internet version was similar to that of the paper-and-pencil version (.87 and .88,
respectively). The structures derived from the 10 categories of difficulties were also highly
similar in the two groups (Spearman rank-order correlation of .87), and both structures
resembled the theoretical one proposed by Gati, Krausz, and Osipow. However, the response
pattern of 42% of the Internet users could be characterized as "questionable", indicating that
these users’ difficulties should be interpreted and the users should be offered feedback with
reservations. A similar comparison of the English paper-and-pencil questionnaire (n = 403) and
the English Internet CDDQ (n = 182) also revealed a high correspondence between the versions,
in both their structure and their pattern of scale reliabilities.
‫י‬Gati, I., Saka, N., & Krausz, M. (2001). “Should I use a computer-assisted career guidance
system?” It depends on where our career decision-making difficulties lie. British
Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 29, 301-321.
The present study examined the pattern of career decision-making difficulties encountered by
417 young adults who used one or more of the computer-assisted career guidance systems
(CACGSs) available at one of the Israeli Veteran Administration's counselling centres, and
assessed the effectiveness of these CACGSs in reducing their career decision-making difficulties.
Career decision-making difficulties were found to be highest for individuals who were prior to
the pre-screening stage of the career decision-making process and lowest for those who were at
the choice stage. The reduction in difficulties after using the CACGSs was statistically
significant in seven of the 10 difficulty categories examined: an especially marked reduction was
found for difficulties related to lack of information. No such reduction was observed for
difficulties related to external conflicts. Participants' perception of having been assisted through
the dialogue with the CACGSs was highest for individuals who used all three systems, and
lowest for those who accessed only one of the three CACGSs.
Gati, I., Saka, N., Malka, M., Orenshtein, A., Sharav, D., & Zarihan M. (2001). High school
students' career-related decision-making difficulties. Hayiutz Hachinuchi, 10, 11-38.
(In Hebrew)
Hijazi, Y., Tatar, M. & Gati, I. (2004). Career decision-making difficulties among Israeli
and Palestinian Arab high-school seniors. Professional School Counseling, 8, 64-72.
Making a career decision becomes a major priority for adolescents during the last year of high
school. The present study examined the taxonomy of career decision-making difficulties among
1,613 Arab 12th-grade students attending schools in East Jerusalem, areas in the West Bank
under the Palestinian National Authority, and Israel. No significant differences were found
among the three locations; gender differences were found in the major category Lack of
Readiness and in four scales (lack of motivation, general indecisiveness, lack of information
about additional sources, and external conflicts). Implications for counseling high-school
students are discussed.
Kelly, K. R., & Lee, W. C. (2002a). Mapping the domain of career decision problems.
Journal of Vocational Behavior, 41, 302-326.
The domain of career decision problems has not been adequately explored. Consequently, it is
difficult to determine how well existing instruments sample the career indecision construct. The
authors conducted a factor analysis of the Career Decision Scale, Career Factors Inventory, and
Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire with undecided college students to explore the
indecision domain. They found six reliable factors: Lack of Information, Need for Information,
Trait Indecision, Disagreement with Others, Identity Diffusion, and Choice Anxiety. They
conducted a cluster analysis of these six factors to explore the structure of the indecision domain
and found three clusters: Information Deficit/Identity Diffusion, Decision Process Inhibitors, and
Choice Inhibitors. The authors propose a definition of the domain of career decision problems,
discuss implications of the results for career counseling, and critique existing instruments on
their coverage of the domain.
Kleiman, T., & Gati, I. (2004). Challenges of Internet-based assessment: Measuring career
decision-making difficulties. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and
Development, 37, 41-55.
In the twenty-first century, for a growing number of people around the world, the Internet is used
not only for gathering information but also for self-help. The uses of the Internet are steadily
growing, and it has become an inseparable part of everyday life for ordinary people (Barak,
1999; Barak & English, 2002; Gore & Leuwerke, 2000; Sampson, 1999). Today it also provides
counseling and personal assessment in various domains, including assistance in career-related
issues. The availability of career assessment resources on the Internet has potential benefits as
well as potential problems (e.g., Barak & Cohen, 2002; Sampson & Lumsden, 2000). The
primary goal of the present study was to examine the features of the Internet versions of the
Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ; Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, 1996) as
well as the relations between the CDDQ and the needs of individuals who visited the Future
Directions Internet site (www.kivunim.com, in Hebrew) in which the CDDQ is embedded.
Kleiman, T., Gati, I., Peterson, G., Sampson, J., Reardon, R., & Lenz, J. (2004).
Dysfunctional thinking and difficulties in career decision making. Journal of Career
Assessment, 12, 213-331.
The present study examined the relationships between two measures of career readiness and
difficulties—the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) and the Career Decision-Making Difficulties
Questionnaire (CDDQ)—as well as the relations between these measures and the individual’s
degree of decidedness regarding his or her career plans. A total of 192 university students
enrolled in a career-planning class filled out both questionnaires. As hypothesized, the two
measures overlapped significantly. There was a highly significant correlation (corrected for
attenuation) between the total scores of the questionnaires (r = .82), but the correlations between
the questionnaires’ subscales varied between –.03 and .83. Both the CTI and the CDDQ
distinguish among individuals at different stages of the career decision-making process. As
hypothesized, participants with a higher degree of decidedness reported lower levels of
difficulties. Implications of the unique features of each of the measures for career-related
interventions and further research are discussed.
Koumoundourou, G., Tsaousis, I., & Kounenou, K. (2011). Parental influences on Greek
adolescents’ career decision making difficulties: The mediating role of core self-
evaluations. Journal of Career Assessment, 19, 165–182.
The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of family characteristics (family function
and parental authority styles) and core self-evaluations (CSE), in adolescents’ career formation.
Drawing on the relational framework of Cutrona and Russell, the study examined the mediating
role of CSE on the relationship between family and parental variables and adolescents’ career
decision-making (CDM) difficulties. Using a sample of 289 Greek students, it was found that for
male students the permissive and authoritarian parenting styles and the family cohesion
contributed significantly to the prediction of CDM difficulties. Males’ decision-making
difficulties were not influenced by CSE. Females’ decision-making difficulties were influenced
negatively only by the parents’ authoritarian style. Contrary to males, CSE fully mediated the
relationship between the authoritarian style and females’ decision-making difficulties. The
specific findings are discussed in reference to gender differences in adolescents’ personality
development. Implications for research and adolescents’ career counseling are also discussed.
Lancaster, P. L., Rudolph, C., Perkins, S., & Patten, T. (1999). Difficulties in career
decision making: A study of the reliability and validity of the career decision
difficulties questionnaire. Journal of Career Assessment, 4, 393-413.
‫יש את המאמר אבל זה לא מעתיק אותו‬
Lease, S. H. (2004). Effect of Locus of Control, Work Knowledge, and Mentoring on career
decision-making difficulties: Testing the role of race and academic institution.
Journal of Career Assessment, 12, 239-254.
Knowledge of the working world and career locus of control are associated with career decision
making. Racial minorities may experience an external locus of career control and greater career
decision-making concerns resulting from limited exposure to mentors or other sources of career
information. Access to information may be facilitated by academic setting type, with smaller
colleges facilitating career decision making. The present study explored racial and academic type
group differences on career locus of control, career-related mentoring, and workrelated
knowledge. African American students reported greater work knowledge but a more external
locus of control than White students did. Race and type of academic institution did not moderate
the relationships between locus of control, work knowledge, and career decision-making
difficulties. An external career locus of control was associated with decision-making difficulties;
however, White students reported greater career decision-making difficulty. Clinical implications
for addressing career locus of control are presented.
Leung, S. A., Hou, Z.-H., Gati, I., & Li, X. (2011). Effects of parental expectations and
cultural-values orientation on career decision-making difficulties of Chinese
University students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78, 11–20.
This study examined the effects of cultural-values conflict and parental expectations on the
career decision-making difficulties of university students in three cities in China (Beijing,
Wuhan, and Hong Kong, N = 1342). The Multidimensional Scales of Individual Traditionality
and Modernity (Yang, Yu, & Ye, 1989) were used as a measure of cultural-values conflict and
cultural orientation. The Living-Up-to Parental Expectation Inventory (Wang & Heppner, 2002)
was used to measure parental expectations. The Career Decision-Making Difficulties
Questionnaire (Gati & Saka, 2001) was used as a dependent measure. It was found that levels of
cultural-value conflict were associated with higher levels of career decision-making difficulties
for students in the Chinese Mainland cities but not for students in Hong Kong. Perceived parental
expectations and perceived self-performance in the expected areas were found to be predictive of
career decision-making difficulties. Cultural-value orientation, especially endorsement of
Chinese traditional values, was found to moderate the relationship between parental expectation
and career decision-making difficulties. Theoretical, research and practical implications of
findings were discussed.
Ling, L., & Xiu-ying, S. (2010). Analysis on the Sandtray Characteristics of the College
Students' Career Decision Making Difficulty and the Inspirations of the Sandtray
Characteristics on Career Development of College Students DOI：
CNKI:SUN:JYKO.0.2010-06-009
The study uses the Chinese version of CDDQ(Career Decision-making Difficulties
Questionnaire) to select 30 students with career decision-making difficulties,and 30 students
without difficulties as a control group,who are students volunteered from a University,grades 1
to 4.Compared the initial sandtrays of students with(career decision-making difficulties) and the
control group(ie,without career decision-making difficulties),in order to understand the
sandtrays' characteristics of career decision-making difficulties students.The results indicated:(1)
Sandplay in students with difficulties in career decision-making and the control group have
significant difference in cure themes especially on confusion,neglect and obstacle,and there are
differences in terms of gender;(2) In sandtrays,characters and human body,furniture
construction,sports and transportation toys have higher usage rate in students with difficulties in
career decision-making.(3) In sandplay experiment,the students in the career decision-making
were significantly different from control group students in work situation.
Liu, C. J., Hao, F., & Li, S. (2006). A preliminary report of Career Decision-making
Difficulties Questionnaire in a college student sample. Chinese Mental Health
Journal, 11, (in Chinese).
Liu, C. J., Hao, F., & Li, S. (2006). Career decision-making difficulties of college students
and its relationship with self-efficacy. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 14,
502–506. doi:10.1037/t01482-000
Objective: To study the issues of career decision-making difficulties of college students and its
relationship with self-efficacy. Methods: 185 undergraduate students from 3 universities filled
out two questionnaires: Career Decision- Making Difficulties Questionnaire and Career Decision
Making Self-efficacy Scale. Results: The level of career decision- making difficulties reported
by the participants was not much high and that of decision-making self-efficacy was relatively
high; individuals with different level of career self-efficacy had different types of difficulties
during different phases of career decision-making. Conclusion: The current undergraduate
students have low level of career decision-making difficulties, and career decision-making
difficulty is related to career decision self-efficacy.
Mau, W. C. (2001). Assessing career decision-making difficulties: A cross-cultural study.
Journal of Career Assessment, 9, 353-364.
This study examines the validity of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire
(CDDQ) in relation to its cultural relevance. Relationships between career decision-making
difficulties and career indecision are also examined in relation to the two cultural groups,
American and Taiwanese university students. Structural equation modeling (SEM) shows that
the taxonomy of career decision-making difficulties can be reliably measured for American
college students. However, the data based on the Taiwanese students has a relatively poor fit of
the factorial model. Compared to the America students, Taiwanese students report more
difficulties in career decision making and tend to be more indecisive in their career decision
making. Differences in career decision- making difficulties between American and Taiwanese
college students are discussed in light of cultural differences.
Mau, W.C. (2004). Cultural dimensions of career decision-making difficulties. The Career
Development Quarterly, 53, 67-78.
This study investigated cultural dimensions of career decision-making difficulties using the
Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire. Career decision-making difficulties were
compared among White, African, Hispanic, and Asian American high school and university
students at U.S. schools. Results indicated Asian American students perceived significantly more
difficulties in career decision making than other groups, whereas White American students
perceived the fewest difficulties. Asian American students reported more difficulties than White
and Hispanic American students before the process and more difficulties than White and African
American students during the process. Findings are discussed based on perspectives of cultural
differences.
Morgan, T., & Ness, D. (2003), Career decision making difficulties of first year students.
The Canadian Journal of Career Development, 2, 33-37.
First-year university students often experience career indecision and related career decisionmaking difficulties. Gati, Krausz, and Osipow (1996) developed a taxonomy for understanding
the various difficulties contributing to career indecision. The focus of the current study was to
examine their taxonomy with a Canadian sample of university students in relation to career
decision- making self-efficacy, sex-role identification, and stage of identity development. Our
results indicated a significant negative correlation between career decision-making difficulties
and self-efficacy, which discriminated among degree of career indecision and whether or not
students had changed their career plans since attending university. Also, there were some
significant sex-role orientation and stage of identity differences for some of these variables.
Implications for career counselors are discussed.
Osipow, S. H., & Gati, I. (1998). Construct and concurrent validity of the career decisionmaking difficulties questionnaire. Journal of Career Assessment, 6, 347-364.
In order to examine the construct and concurrent validity of the Career Decision-making
Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ), responses of 403 university students (76% freshmen) to this
questionnaire as well as to the Career Decision Scale (CDS) and the Career Decision-Making
Self-Efficacy Scale (CDMSES) were analyzed. As hypothesized, the correlation between the
CDDQ and the CDS was positive (.77), and the correlations of these two questionnaires with the
CDMSES were negative (-.50 and -.52, respectively). The structure of the 10 difficulty
categories of the CDDQ replicated previous findings. In addition, undecided students had
significantly higher CDDQ and CDS scores, and lower CDMSES scores than decided students.
The implications of the findings for the assessment of difficulties associated with career decision
making in counseling and research are discussed.
Oztemel, K. (2013). Testing the validity of the emotional and personality-related career
decision-making difficulties questionnaire in Turkish culture. Journal of Career
Development, 40, 5, 390-407. doi: 10.1177/0894845312468060
The goal of this study was to examine the emotional and personality-related career decisionmaking difficulties of high school students in Turkish culture, using the model proposed by Saka
and Gati. A sample of 523 high school students filled out the Turkish version of the Emotional
and Personality-Related Aspects of Career Decision-Making Difficulties (EPCD) questionnaire.
Cluster and confirmatory factor analyses supported the ternary classification system of the
emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties model and questionnaire,
thus providing evidence for the cross-cultural validity of the proposed model. Furthermore, the
results demonstrated significant associations between making a decision and the emotional and
personality career difficulties: students who were decided reported lower emotional and
personality-related career difficulties than did undecided students. Generally, there were no
differences in EPCD scores between boys and girls, and no effect of type of school and grade
was observed.
Perţe, A., & Pătroc, D. (2012). Career decision difficulties. The effectiveness of a training
program. Romanian Journal of School Psychology, 9, 30-42.
Needless to say, career decision is one of the most important decisions that a person has to make
in his entire existence. Many researches have shown that in adolescence we encounter more
career decision difficulties than in any other developmental stages. Furthermore, teaching
adolescents how to make good career decisions is one of the main goals of career counseling and
guidance. Thus, we developed and implemented a training program called “I know! I can! I
choose!”, a program that attempts to reduce a large area of career decision difficulties. In this
study, we will demonstrate that “I know! I can! I choose!” is efficient, easy to implement and
enables adolescents to make better career decisions. We tested the program on 211 participants,
divided into experimental, control and placebo groups. Subsequently, we performed follow-up
studies in order to evaluate whether this interventions is effective over time.
Reese, R. J. & Miller, C. D. (2006). Effects of a university career development course on
career decision-making self-efficacy. Journal of Career Assessment, 14, 252–266.
The effects of a career development course on career decision-making self-efficacy were
investigated. The course was primarily designed to help undecided students with career decision
making. A pretest-posttest nonequivalent group design compared students who completed the
course (n = 30) with a quasi-control group of students who were enrolled in an introductory
psychology course (n = 66). The results indicated that students who completed the career course
showed increased career decision-making self-efficacy overall, specifically in the areas of
obtaining occupational information, setting career goals, and career planning. The career course
also appeared to lower perceived career decision difficulties. The importance of having a
theoretically based career course and the increased need for research in this area are discussed,
given the increase in the popularity of career services on college and university campuses.
Limitations and future studies are discussed.
Rui, D., & Li-Rong, L. (2006). A study on Career Decision-Making Difficulties
Questionnaire for undergraduate students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology,
14, 237–239.
Objective: To develop a cross-culture revision of career decision-making difficulties
questionnaire(CDDQ) for undergraduate students. Methods: A total of 330 college students were
tested with CDDQ. Results: (1) Cronbach α coefficients ranged from 0.68 to 0.84: (2) There
were significant differences among different students. Conclusion: The psychometric properties
of the inventory developed in this study are acceptable. It can be used as the instrument for
measurement of undergraduates' career decision making difficulties, However, revision should
be made in accordance with the condition of China.
Saka, N., Gati, I., & Kelly, K. R. (2008). Emotional and personality-related aspects of
career decision-making difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment 16, 403-424.
This research focuses on developing a theoretical framework for analyzing the emotional and
personality-related aspects of career-decision-making difficulties. The proposed model is
comprised of three major clusters: pessimistic views, anxiety, and self-concept and identity. In
Study 1, the Emotional and Personality Career Difficulties Scale (EPCD) was developed,
refined, and used to empirically test the model with an Israeli Internet sample (N = 728). Study 2
(N = 276) provided evidence for the cross-cultural validity of the proposed model, using an
American college student sample. The relations between the cognitive and emotional
components of career-decision-making difficulties are discussed, and theoretical, research, and
counseling implications are explored.
Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D., Mylonas, K., Argyropoulou, K., & Tampouri, S. (2012).
Career Decision-making Difficulties, Dysfunctional Thinking and Generalized SelfEfficacy of University Students in Greece. World Journal of Education, 2, 1, 117-130.
doi:10.5430/wje.v2n1p117
The present study aims to examine the relationship of career decision-making difficulties,
dysfunctional career thoughts and generalized self-efficacy, as factors involved in the decisionmaking process for university students. The study also investigates the influence of
demographics and individual variables, and examines the predictive power of the Career
Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale
(GSE) over the dimensions assessed by the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI).
The results revealed statistically significant positive correlations between CDDQ factors (lack of
information, inconsistent information, and lack of readiness) and total grade in Career Thoughts
Inventory (CTI), decision-making confusion, commitment difficulty and lack of determination.
On the other hand, the results show statistically significant negative correlations between all the
aforementioned variables and generalized self-efficacy. Moreover, the generalized self-efficacy,
as well as the CDDQ factors seemed to be predictors of the lack of determination, decisionmaking confusion and commitment difficulty. Finally, there is a discussion about the
additionality of the CDDQ and CTI Questionnaires and advantages from their common use.
Findings are discussed in the terms of the career counseling framework.
Slaten, C. D., & Baskin, T. W. (2013). Examining the Impact of Peer and Family
Belongingness on the Career Decision-making Difficulties of Young Adults: A Path
Analytic Approach. Journal of Career Assessment, 22, 59-74.
Doi:10.1177/1069072713487857
Career decision making continues to be a major area of research, particularly related to the
factors that influence the construct. The purpose of this study was to examine a hypothesized
model predicting the relationships between career decision-making difficulties and perceived
belongingness, specifically peer and family belongingness. Participants included 436
undergraduates, who completed measures of belongingness, psychological distress, academic
motivation, and career decision-making difficulties. The researchers conjectured that peer and
family belongingness would each be indirectly associated with career decision-making
difficulties as mediated by academic motivation and psychological distress. Overall, fit indices
supported the hypothesized model but indicated different outcomes for family and peer
belongingness. Family belongingness was significantly related to career decision-making
difficulties, while peer belonging was not significantly associated to any variable in the
hypothesized model. Practical implications are discussed, along with suggestions for future
research.
Taber, B. J. (2013). Time Perspective and Career Decision-Making Difficulties in Adults.
Journal of Career Assessment, 2, 1, 200-209.
Decision making is not only contingent upon what takes place in the present but also on how one
feels about the past and one’s hopes for the future. However, when it comes to time perspective
and career decision making, vocational psychology has focused exclusively on future time
perspective. The present study examines the relations among past, present, and future time
perspectives and career decision-making difficulties in a sample of 195 adults seeking career
counseling services. Participants completed the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI)
and the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ). Results from canonical
correlation analysis produced three significant canonical variates. The results indicate that
different patterns in time perspective are associated with different types of career decisionmaking difficulties. Areas for future research regarding time perspective and career decision
making are discussed.
Tien, H. L. S. (2001). Career Decision-Making Difficulties Perceived by College Students in
Taiwan. Bulletin of Educational Psychology, 33, 1, 87-98.
The purposes of the study were threefold: (1) to construct the Chinese version of “Career
Decision-making Difficulties Inventory;” (2) to investigate the career-related problems
encountered by college students; and (3) to test a classification system for career decision
difficulties for college students. Four hundred and sixty-seven college students completed the
Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire. Data obtained was analyzed by Chi-square,
ANOVA, factor analysis, and ADDTREE. The results indicated the significant differences
between decided and undecided students on their perceptions of career difficulties. The threegroup classification system for career decision difficulties was generally speaking supported by
the data in this study.
Tien, H. L. S. (2005). The validation of the career decision making difficulties scale in a
Chinese culture. Journal of Career Assessment, 13, 114-127
The purpose of the study was to test the classification system for career decision difficulties of
college students in a Chinese culture. Five hundred twenty-one college students completed the
Chinese version of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire. Data obtained were
analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance, factor analysis, and a clustering algorithm,
ADDTREE. The results indicated significant differences between decided and undecided
students on their perceptions of career difficulties,.(10,464) = .729. The results of factor analysis
and the ADDTREE analysis indicated that the three-group classification system for career
decision-making difficulties was generally supported. However, for the undecided students in the
process of career decision making, the factors before and during the process were mixed.
Vahedi, S., Farrokhi, F., Mahdavi, A., & Moradi, S. (2012). Exploratory and Confirmatory
Factor Analysis of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire. Iranian
Journal of Psychiatry, 7, 2, 74-81.
Objective: The present study aimed at validating the structure of Career Decision-making
Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ).
Methods: Five hundred and eleven undergraduate students took part in this research; from these
participants, 63 males and 200 females took part in the first study, and 63 males and 185 females
completed the survey for the second study.
Results: The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicated strong support for the threefactor structure, consisting of lack of information about the self, inconsistent information, lack of
information and lack of readiness factors. A confirmatory factor analysis was run with the
second sample using structural equation modeling. As expected, the three-factor solution
provided a better fit to the data than the alternative models. Conclusion: CDDQ was
recommended to be used for college students in this study due to the fact that this instrument
measures all three aspects of the model. Future research is needed to learn whether this model
would fit other different samples.
Zhou, D., & Santos, A. (2007). Career decision-making difficulties of British and Chinese
international university students. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 35,
219-235.
This study explored cultural and gender differences in career decision-making difficulties
(CDMD) experienced by 109 British and 86 Chinese international university students, and the
impact of cross-cultural adjustment on the CDMD of Chinese international students. Results
showed no significant cultural differences in overall CDMD, and that the cross-cultural
adjustment of Chinese participants was not correlated with their difficulty in career decisionmaking. Significant cultural differences on the sub-categories of the Career Decision-making
Difficulties Questionnaire (e.g. Chinese participants were significantly less ready than British
participants to make career decisions) and some significant gender differences (e.g. male
participants generally experienced fewer difficulties than female participants in career decisionmaking) were identified. Age and degree level were negatively related to the level of difficulty
the participants experienced in career decision-making. Implications for career counselling and
future research directions are discussed.
In press
Gati, I. & Levin, N. (2014). Counseling for career decision-making difficulties: Measures
and methods. Career Development Quarterly.
Career indecision may be the primary reason people go to career counselors. Much effort
has been exerted to identify and investigate the causes of clients' career decision-making
difficulties. With the aim of facilitating clients' career decision making, the use of career
indecision assessments can promote the effectiveness and efficiency of face-to-face career
counseling. We review three evidence-based cost-free assessments derived from decision theory:
the Career Decision-Making Difficulties (CDDQ) questionnaire, the Emotional and PersonalityRelated Career Decision-Making Difficulties (EPCD) questionnaire, and the Career DecisionMaking Profile (CDMP) questionnaire. The unique features of these assessments are described,
and the ways they can contribute to facilitating career decision making in career counseling are
explored with a case study example.
Unpublished
Birle, D., Bonchis, E., Roman, D., & Crisnan, D. (2012). The efficiency of a training program
on reducing career decision-making difficulties. Unpublished manuscript, Psychology
Department, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania.
This study’s objective is to analyze the effect of career development training on career decisionmaking difficulties. 138 participants (high-school students, XII grade) were included, thus: 63
within the control group, 51 within the experimental group, and 24 within the placebo group. The
training took place during a 10-week period, and it intended to increase the decision-making
capacity regarding future career. The level of difficulties was assessed with the CDDQ – Career
Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (Gati & Osipow, 2000, 2002) – which was validated
on Romanian population. Results show there are significant differences in posttest between the
three samples, as follows: for global difficulties regarding career decision (f=.405), for
difficulties caused by the lack of information (f=.405), and for difficulties caused by inconsistent
information (f=.405). As the results have shown, the global level of difficulties regarding career
decision-making had dropped significantly from pretest to posttest within the experimental
group, and it maintained constant in follow-up. The results obtained within this study point out
the importance of modular interventions in career development on high-school students. It has
been ascertained that interventions of this kind are likely to have an indirect impact on reducing
perceived difficulties related to the process of future career decision.
Tayler, B.C. (2007). The impact that career guidance counselling has on the level of career
indecision in the career decision-making process of late adolescents in Cape Town.
Career indecision is one of the key aspects that professionals in career guidance counselling are
interested in assessing. By analysing various aspects of career indecision this study was able to
assess how the case of a career guidance counsellor impacted various difficulties in the career
decision-making process of late adolescents. The data consisted of two homogenous groups of
late adolescent learners who filled out the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire
(CDDQ) on two separate occasions, roughly one month apart. One group received career
guidance counselling (N = 33), while the control group (N = 50) did not receive any form of
career guidance counselling in the interim. Using the CDDQ, three distinct components relating
to career indecision were assessed: lack of readiness, lack of information and inconsistent
information. In addition, analysis of the 10 subcategories of the CDDQ revealed that career
guidance counselling had the greatest impact in reducing adolescents level of career decisionmaking difficulties in the major category of Lack of Information. The results revealed that both
groups presented with similar levels of career indecision at time one, and that the level of career
indecision remained constant from time one to time two for the control group. The level of career
indecision experienced by the adolescents who received career guidance counselling diminished
from time one to time two. This study found empirical evidence to support the notion that late
adolescents who receive career guidance counselling are more likely to experience a reduction in
their level of career indecision than adolescents who do not receive any form of career guidance
counselling intervention.
Ph.D.’s and Ed.D.’s
Brown, J. M. (2011). Utilizing a Web-Based Career Development Workshop to Address
Career Decision-Making Difficulty Among Community College Distance Learners.
Ph.D., Old Dominion University, 124 pages; 3455286.
Career decision making difficulty, as it relates to undecided college students and career
indecision, has been a concern for counselors and academic advisors for decades (Gordon, 2006;
Mau, 2004). Individuals struggling with career indecision often seek assistance via career
counseling, self-help tools, and/or computer-assisted career guidance systems (Gati, Gadassi, &
Shemesh, 2005). The past decade has brought a large increase in the development of a number of
web-based career guidance systems (CGS) (Bobek, Robbins, Gore, Harris-Bowlsbey, Lapan,
Dahir, & Jepsen, 2005). Despite the rapid growth in the type and use of computer-assisted CGS,
little empirical research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the systems as career
decision making tools (Bloch, 2006; Fowkes & McWhirter, 2007; Gati, Kleinam, Saka, & Zakai,
2003; Mau, 1999). The purpose of this preliminary quantitative study was to assess the
effectiveness of a web-based career development workshop to change career decision making
difficulty of undecided community college distance learners. The results of this study will be
used to determine the feasibility of incorporating the workshop into academic advising, career
advising, and the curriculum of a College Success Course (CSC).
A pretest/posttest, between groups comparison design was used to assess change in career
decision making difficulty. The Career Decision making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ)
(Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, 1996) was used to measure change in mean pretest and posttests scores
on each of three variables: 1) lack of readiness, 2) lack of information, and 3) inconsistent
information. The revealed t tests change in career decision making difficulty for each variable
were not statistically significant. However, participants who completed the web-based career
development workshop reported a reduction in difficulty for more variables than participants
who completed a web-based CGS as a stand-alone intervention.
As technology continues to influence distance-learning, it has also influenced various
educational and administrative functions of student affairs (Moneta, 1997; Moneta, 2005).
Online student support services allow institutions to meet the needs of the millennial student who
has grown up with a computer generation and expects to be able to locate information
electronically (Pullan, 2009), as well as the distance-learner, campus-based learner, or hybrid
learner who needs to access information outside of traditional office hours. CGS have practical
implications for student services support functions such as academic and career advising, and
college success courses. Academic or career advising sessions, as well as CSC's, are ideal
avenues to introduce students, who may not be aware of their existence or benefit to assist with
career decision making, to web-based CGS.
Farrar, L.C. (2009). Relationships between vocational decision-making styles and career
decision-making difficulties of low socio-economic status high school students in
residential education. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities
and Social Sciences, Vol 70(4-A), 1176 pages.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the degree to which vocational decision-making
styles would enhance understanding of factors related to career decision-making difficulties of
low socio-economic status (SES) residential high school students. The Career Decision-Making
Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) and the Vocational Decision Styles Indicator (VDSI) were
the assessments used in the study. The study explored whether students with thinking-oriented
and introverted styles or feeling-oriented and extroverted styles would score lower on a measure
of career decision-making difficulties. The means did differ statistically significant. The feelingoriented and extroverted style students scored higher on the CDDQ measure, which revealed
there were more career decision-making difficulties concern for this group than the thinkingoriented and introverted style students who scored lower. The study also examined the possible
influence of gender and race on the career decision-making styles and difficulties measures. The
comparisons for means of male and female students who completed the VDSI measure did not
reveal any statistically significant differences for gender. The styles varied among males and
females to the degree that no one style was exclusive to any particular gender. This finding was
also consistent among racial groups where the Non-White and White students' styles did not
differ significantly. Since the resulting t values did not achieve the level of significance required
for this analysis, the potential confound of race and gender were ruled out for the VDSI measure.
However, the means did differ significantly on the CDDQ scales for gender. The findings
revealed that the career decision-making difficulties reported by the students were lower for
females than for males. As it relates to race, the differences that existed in the career decisionmaking difficulties measure were not race specific. The current findings suggest that the VDSI
and CDDQ might be valid measurements of career decision-making difficulties and styles for
low SES residential high school populations. Implications of these findings for residential
education are discussed.
Lyn, P. (2008). The effects of a coaching program on students' career decision-making
difficulties. Ed.D., The University of Memphis, 149 pages; 3374773.
The effectiveness of a career planning course intervention with a coaching component on the
reduction of career decision-making difficulties of college students was examined. Fifty-four
female and 30 male undergraduate students enrolled in the University of Memphis, age range 18
to 51, mean age 22.4 served as participants. Three groups of the college students were identified
and two were provided an intervention and one group served as the control. The treatment
groups, students enrolled in a career course with no coaching component, and those enrolled in a
career course with a coaching component, received the career planning course intervention,
which occurred over the course of one semester. The control group consisted of students enrolled
in an English course who received no career planning course intervention. Dependent variables
of difficulties in Lack of Information about the Decision-Making Process, Lack of Information
about the Self, and Lack of Information about Occupations as revealed by the Career DecisionMaking Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) were examined pre and post intervention. Results
indicated that both the career planning courses with and without coaching component realized a
significant reduction career indecision as compared to the control group. Findings add to the
literature by supporting the need for the career planning courses. Although no differences
between the coaching and no coaching intervention levels were obtained in the current
investigation, recommendations for further research to determine the specific benefit of coaching
sessions as an adjunct to career planning course in reducing career decision-making difficulties
are offered.
Quita, C.C. (2012). Career Thoughts and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy as
Predictors of Career Decision-Making Difficulties among Freshmen College
Students. M.A., Ateneo de Manila University, 11 pages.
The study explored whether career thoughts and career decision-making self-efficacy predict
career decision-making difficulties among 288 freshmen college students of University of Santo
Tomas College of Commerce and Business Administration. The results showed that both career
thoughts and career decision-making self-efficacy predict career decision-making difficulties
having career thoughts as a better predictor of career decision making difficulties than career
decision-making self-efficacy. Career decision-making difficulties and career decision-making
self-efficacy assumed an inverse relationship. The more that the respondent is confident in career
decision-making, the less likely that difficulties in career decision-making was experienced and
vice versa. Career decision making difficulty profiles can provide information about the
students’ specific needs which can be addressed through enhancement of existing career
guidance programs which would help them to overcome difficulties in the use of information,
dealing with internal conflicts, and conflicts related to significant others.
Williams, K. (2013). Career decision-making difficulties among high school students: From
the perception of career counselors and high school principals. Ph.D., University of
La Verne, 171 pages; 3573676 .
The purpose of this comparative research study was to determine the perceptions of 122 career
counselors and principals on the types of career decision-making difficulties experienced by high
school students and the extent to which a large-scale high school technology-based career
development program addresses these difficulties. Using the career decision-making difficulties
questionnaire, identified by Gati et al. (1996), among high school students we determined how
experts’ perceived their students ability to make career decisions. and that the career education
program only somewhat addressed these difficulties. No statistically significant difference
emerged between the way principles and career counselors perceived their students ability to
make a career decision, and the career education program only somewhat addressed these
difficulties. Further research is advised to examine the perceptions of career counselors and
principals and compare those perceptions against their actual student scores from the CDDQ.