The Effect of Adolescent-Parent Congruence on the College-Decision Making Process of Rural Appalachian Youth

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between adolescent-parent congruence on the SCCT variables of college-going self-efficacy beliefs, college outcome expectations, and college decision-making in rural Appalachian youth. The study addressed three main research questions: What are the typical levels of adolescent-parent congruence, college-going self-efficacy, and college outcome expectations of rural Appalachian youth? How are college-going decisions impacted by the level of adolescent-parent congruence, college-going self-efficacy beliefs, and college outcome expectations of rural Appalachian youth? and How do rural Appalachian high school students say that adolescent-parent congruence impacts their college decisions? Participants in the study were high school seniors enrolled in five rural Appalachian high schools within a single Southeastern state. Data was collected through online surveys. Participants were asked to complete three scales: the Adolescent-Parent Career Congruence Scale-Revised (Sawitri et al., 2012), College Outcome Expectation Scale (Flores et al., 2008), and the College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale (Gibbons & Borders, 2010). Participants were also asked to answer two open response questions and complete a brief demographic scale. Findings indicated that rural Appalachian youth have a moderate amount of congruence with their parents regarding postsecondary plans, moderately high levels of college-going self-efficacy, and high levels of college outcomes expectations. High positive correlations were found between each of these three variables. In addition, multiple variables were found to predict students’ adolescent-parent congruence including college-going self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, mother’s educational level, and gender. Finally, while students reported moderate levels of adolescent-parent congruence on the quantitative measure, they demonstrated increased incongruence when asked about incongruence in an open-ended format. Based on these findings, implications for future research, counselors, and counselor educators were provided.