Parental Career-Related Behavior Transitions and Career Adaptability Among Chinese Secondary Vocational Students: School Interpersonal Support as a Mediator

Parental career-related behaviors and school interpersonal support (i.e., teacher and peer support) play crucial roles in shaping adolescents’ career development. However, the dynamic interplay between these factors and career adaptability among secondary vocational students remains underexplored, particularly among transitional youth populations and collectivist cultural contexts. Integrating career construction theory and spillover theory, this study constructs a refined theoretical framework to address this gap. We conducted a longitudinal investigation over 1 year on the relations among parental career-related behaviors, school interpersonal support, and career adaptability in a sample of 1,014 Chinese secondary vocational students ( Mage = 16.70, SD = 0.87; 50.8% female). Latent profile analysis identified three parental behavior profiles: (a) support group, (b) interference-lack of engagement group, and (c) support-interference group. Latent transition analysis further revealed four transition patterns: (a) stable high-quality career nurturing (SH), (b) stable low or lower quality career nurturing (SL), (c) career nurturing improvement (CI), and (d) career nurturing decline (CD). Mediation analyses demonstrated that school interpersonal support—especially from teachers and peers—significantly mediated the association between transition patterns of parental career-related behaviors and subsequent career adaptability. Results indicate that consistent or intermittent negative parental behaviors undermine students’ career adaptability, highlighting the importance of supportive school environments in fostering adaptability within collectivist settings.