From Support to Adaptation: Examining Career Exploration as a Mediator Between Social Support and Parental Behaviors with Career Adaptability

Career adaptability—a critical competency for navigating evolving career demands—is shaped by contextual influences, including social support and parental behaviors. While prior research highlights their direct effects, the mediating mechanisms remain underexplored. This study examines career exploration as a mediator between social support, parental career-specific behaviors, and career adaptability, integrating Career Construction Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) with a sample of 643 Iranian middle school students, we tested a hypothesized model in which career exploration partially mediates these relationships. Results confirmed significant direct effects of parental behaviors (β = .371) and social support (β = .327) on adaptability, alongside indirect effects via career exploration (β = .349 and β = .099, respectively). Parental behaviors exhibited a stronger influence on exploration (β = .59) than general social support (β = .348), suggesting targeted familial inputs more effectively catalyze exploratory actions. The model demonstrated excellent fit (CFI = .941; RMSEA = .044), supporting career exploration as a self-regulatory process through which external resources are internalized into adaptive capacities. These findings advance theoretical frameworks by empirically validating exploration as a mediator and differentiating the roles of proximal (parental) and distal (social) supports. Practical implications emphasize integrating exploration-focused interventions within career education, family engagement programs, and policy initiatives to foster adaptability.