Early childhood experiences and current emotional distress: what do they tell us about aspiring psychologists?

Motivation underlying the career choice of mental health professionals may include a desire to resolve personal psychological distress from childhood or the need to continue the caretaking role held in the family (A. DiCaccavo, 2002; J. D. Guy, 1987). The authors examined whether psychology students whose future vocational aspirations lie in the clinical domain (N = 40) differed from psychology students with no clinical aspirations (N = 35) and from business students (N = 91) in reported childhood experiences and current psychological functioning. Psychology students who wanted to work in the clinical domain reported higher rates of perceived childhood sexual abuse and neglect as compared with both psychology students with no clinical aspirations and business students. They also reported more parentification experiences between the ages of 14 years and 16 years as compared with business students. There were no significant differences between groups in reported levels of current negative emotions.