Resilient College Students in School-to-Work Transition

Abstract

The current study aimed to identify resilient students in the school-to-work phase. The data were collected twice at an interval of 6 months. Latent profile analysis was used to identify resilience among 557 students who were in their last semester of college. Next, multinomial logistic analysis was conducted to determine distinctive characteristics of the resilient students from the maladaptive students. After graduation, 321 graduates completed the 2nd survey in order for us to observe career satisfaction as an outcome variable. Stressors and adaption were used to identify the following 4 groups: resilient, semichallenged, competent-unchallenged, and maladaptive students. Unlike the maladaptive group, the resilient group utilized specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies such as strategic planning, positive refocusing, and restructuring the situation with optimistic points of view. Additionally, the resilient group showed higher career satisfaction than did the maladaptive group after 6 months. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed.