The development and validation of a short form of the Australian version of the Career Development Inventory

Abstract

This study utilised a sample of 2173 high school students, enrolled in Years 8-12, to develop a 33-item shortened form (CDI-A-SF) of the Australian version of the 72-item Career Development Inventory (CDI-A). The long form of the CDI-A has been criticised for its length, difficulty and repetitive nature. The CDI-A-SF was devised with reference to content coverage and statistical criteria. Factor analysis of the short form indicated that, at the item level, subscale items loaded on their respective factors, and at the subscale level, the attitudinal and cognitive subscales loaded on the appropriate factors. Strong correlations were found between the CDI-A-SF and the CDI-A at the subscale, composite scale and total scale levels. Internal reliability coefficients for the CDI-A-SF at all levels were satisfactory to good. Initial validity for the CDI-A-SF was demonstrated by associations in the expected direction with career decidedness, self-esteem and decision-making self-efficacy, and by age and gender differences in the expected directions. The CDI-A-SF shows promise as a measure of career maturity where it is not possible or inappropriate to use the full version, although further research needs to replicate the findings and further test its validity.