The effects of parental psychological control and career decision-making self-efficacy on college students’ employment anxiety: the mediating role of motivational regulation
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Abstract
Employment anxiety has become an important issue affecting college students’ psychological well-being and career development, yet its underlying mechanisms require further investigation. Based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study examined associations of parental psychological control and career decision-making self-efficacy on college students’ employment anxiety, and further explored the mediating roles of identified regulation and external regulation. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 509 junior undergraduate students facing the upcoming graduation and job-search period. Participants completed the Future Employment Anxiety Scale, Parental Psychological Control Scale, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale, and Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS). Structural equation modeling and the Bootstrap method were employed to examine the relationships among the variables. The results showed that: (1) Parental psychological control was significantly and positively associated with college students’ employment anxiety, whereas career decision-making self-efficacy significantly and negatively associated with employment anxiety in statistical prediction; (2) Parental psychological control was significantly and negatively associated with identified regulation and external regulation, while career decision-making self-efficacy was significantly and positively associated with both types of motivational regulation; (3) Identified regulation and external regulation served as parallel statistical mediators in the associations between parental psychological control, career decision-making self-efficacy, and employment anxiety; and (4) Further analysis revealed that both types of motivational regulation showed masking patterns opposite to the directions of the direct statistical effects, suggesting that different forms of motivational regulation may be simultaneously linked to career engagement and higher anxiety in employment contexts. This study elucidates the psychological mechanisms through which family environment, individual psychological resources, and motivational regulation are jointly associated with employment anxiety, providing theoretical implications for employment-related psychological interventions in higher education.
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BibTeX
@article{guo2026effects,
title = {{The effects of parental psychological control and career decision-making self-efficacy on college students’ employment anxiety: the mediating role of motivational regulation}},
author = {Pengfei Guo and Chun Wang and Hailong Fu and Jian Zhang},
journal = {Frontiers in psychology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1947477},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13727621},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The effects of parental psychological control and career decision-making self-efficacy on college students’ employment anxiety: the mediating role of motivational regulation
AU - Pengfei Guo
AU - Chun Wang
AU - Hailong Fu
AU - Jian Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Frontiers in psychology
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1947477
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13727621
AB - Employment anxiety has become an important issue affecting college students’ psychological well-being and career development, yet its underlying mechanisms require further investigation. Based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study examined associations of parental psychological control and career decision-making self-efficacy on college students’ employment anxiety, and further explored the mediating roles of identified regulation and external regulation. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 509 junior undergraduate students facing the upcoming graduation and job-search period. Participants completed the Future Employment Anxiety Scale, Parental Psychological Control Scale, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale, and Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS). Structural equation modeling and the Bootstrap method were employed to examine the relationships among the variables. The results showed that: (1) Parental psychological control was significantly and positively associated with college students’ employment anxiety, whereas career decision-making self-efficacy significantly and negatively associated with employment anxiety in statistical prediction; (2) Parental psychological control was significantly and negatively associated with identified regulation and external regulation, while career decision-making self-efficacy was significantly and positively associated with both types of motivational regulation; (3) Identified regulation and external regulation served as parallel statistical mediators in the associations between parental psychological control, career decision-making self-efficacy, and employment anxiety; and (4) Further analysis revealed that both types of motivational regulation showed masking patterns opposite to the directions of the direct statistical effects, suggesting that different forms of motivational regulation may be simultaneously linked to career engagement and higher anxiety in employment contexts. This study elucidates the psychological mechanisms through which family environment, individual psychological resources, and motivational regulation are jointly associated with employment anxiety, providing theoretical implications for employment-related psychological interventions in higher education.
SN - 1664-1078
ER -