Life Adaptability Qualitative Assessment (LAQuA): A narrative instrument for evaluating counseling intervention effectiveness

In this chapter, I present a new qualitative instrument, the Life Adaptability Qualitative Assessment (LAQuA), for evaluating the effectiveness of life design counseling for the 21st century. This measure is rooted in Career Construction Theory and is based on the Career Adaptability construct (Savickas, 2001, 2005). It is also in line with the theoretical framework of Life Construction Theory (Guichard, 2013) as the dimensions of the Career Adaptability construct are central to an expanded view of Self-Construction in various life roles. A study was conducted to evaluate the validity of the LAQuA involving two groups of Italian university students: an experimental group (34 participants) that received a group-based life design counseling intervention based on the Career Construction Interview, and a control group (38 participants) that did not receive any intervention. The results confirmed the validity of the LAQuA as a qualitative instrument for detecting changes in the participants’ narratives before and after the life design counseling intervention. More particularly, the research hypothesis was confirmed as the experimental group’s pre- and post-LAQuAs showed narrative changes in the Career Adaptability dimensions (Savickas, 2001; Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) while the control group’s pre- and post-LAQuAs showed no change (Rehfuss, 2009; Rehfuss & Di Fabio, 2012). The changes in the experimental group indicated the changes that took place in the participants after the life design career counseling intervention.