| Summary |
According to John L. Holland's (1985, 1997) theory of vocational interest types and work environments, counselors can learn whether a client is experiencing psychological maladjustment by attending to secondary constructs in vocational interest assessment. More specifically, Holland posited that low differentiation (i.e., degree of interest scale score variation) and low profile elevation (i.e., total number of endorsed items, or like responses, across all interest scales combined) are indicative of psychological maladjustment that warrants more intensive treatment or assessment. Counselors, too, are known to infer psychological maladjustment from low interest score differentiation and profile elevation (Gottfredson & Jones, 1993). However, findings are equivocal. Consequently, these interest assessment constructs are without a validated interpretation with respect to psychological maladjustment. This lack of an empirically substantiated interpretation for differentiation and profile elevation is potentially a product of methodological flaws or gaps in research that the current study aimed to address. The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of the two primary disorder dimensions of psychological maladjustment (i.e., internalizing, externalizing) on vocational interest score differentiation and profile elevation among African American mothers receiving welfare. Towards this end, a quantitative, ex post facto research design was employed to analyze archival data on the vocational evaluation (VE) results of adult welfare recipients in North Carolina. More specifically, the sample consisted of African American mothers receiving welfare who were referred to the Navigate Counseling Clinic between 2012 and 2017. This population was targeted, in large part, because these mothers have been without the benefit of research that examines their vocational complexities through the prism of a career theory. Furthermore, psychological maladjustment is identified as being among the more prevalent barriers to employment that African American mothers receiving welfare experience (Danziger et al., 2000). Thus, findings from the current study served to enhance the interpretability of Holland's theoretical constructs, but also served to improve counseling-based services for a client group in need of proper career and mental health assistance. In this study, six research questions were developed for examining main and interaction effects of internalizing and externalizing maladjustment on interest score differentiation and profile elevation among the sample (N = 122). Research questions were addressed with a series of 2 X 2 analyses of variance (ANOVA) in which internalizing maladjustment and externalizing maladjustment were the independent grouping variables. These variables each had two levels for indicating the presence or absence of a probable disorder within the corresponding maladjustment dimension as measured by the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs- Short Screener (GAIN-SS; Dennis, Feeney, & Titus, 2013). In contrast, the continuous dependent variables were vocational interest score differentiation and profile elevation as measured using the O*NET Computerized Interest Profiler (CIP; Rounds et al., 1999). Consistent with standards in social science research, statistical significance was established with an alpha level of .05 (Heppner et al., 2008), and assumptions of the 2 X 2 ANOVA were tested. Results from addressing research questions indicated a statistically significant finding in a post hoc analysis wherein internalizing maladjustment had a direct main effect on vocational interest score differentiation. Exclusively non-significant findings were observed for the remaining research questions. In addition to addressing research questions, the study included an examination of O*NET CIP scale scores and primary RIASEC types. Furthermore, psychometric properties were investigated among the sample. All results from this study are discussed, including limitations, implications, and recommendations for future research. |
