To determine the effects on career attitude changes among college students with developmental disabilities, this study conducted a pretest and posttest on subfactors of career attitude, and the results are as follows. Prior to the analysis, the test of normality was conducted due to the small number of participants in the groups such as 25 in the experimental group and 30 in the control group. The result showed that both groups had normality as the Koimogorov-Smimov test showed the results of experimental group
p = .113 and control group
p = .96, and the Shapiro-Wilk test showed experimental group
p = .138 and control group
p = .085. Thus, a paired samples t-test was conducted.
Table 4 shows the statistical analysis of career attitude factors such as determination, finality, confidence, preparation, and independence. Determination showed the posttest mean of 3.39 points in the experimental group, which is higher than the pretest mean of 2.08 points, showing statistically significant difference (
p < .05). However, in the control group, the posttest mean was 2.04 points, which was higher than the pretest mean of 1.91 points, but there was no statistically significant difference. Therefore, the healing garden program based on vocational adaptation for college students with developmental disabilities showed a significant improvement n determination. Here, determination is the ability to make decisions oneself, and the result also supports the report by
Rhyou (2002) that persons with developmental disabilities lack the ability to make decisions on their own in forming career attitudes and thus acquiring self-determination skills is very important. In finality, the experimental group had the posttest mean of 3.19 points, which was much higher than the pretest mean of 2.28 points, and there was also a statistically significant difference. However, the control group had the posttest mean of 2.23 points and pretest mean of 2.22 points, not showing a significant difference. This indicates that finality is about having purpose for a behavior and thus clearly understanding the purpose of having a job. In other words, the purpose of college students with developmental disabilities in getting a job is related to enjoying leisure aside from achieving financial independence (
Hong, 2012), and this result is proved by the healing garden program. Confidence refers to the assured feeling that one can solve his or her own problem, and thus increased confidence leads to improved ability to actively cope with vocational life. The experiment showed that the experimental group had the posttest mean of 3.69 points and the pretest mean of 2.20 points with significance (
p < .05). Moreover, the control group also showed the posttest mean of 2.52 points and the pretest mean of 2.13 points with significance. In other words, confidence was improved as the participants took care of plants during gardening activities based on vocational adaptation, but other vocational programs for developmental disabilities also affect confidence (
Hong, 2012). Thus, when examining this result and reviewing the core competencies of vocational training at N University, confidence was set as the core competency, and thus it is not just an effect of the therapeutic garden. Preparation refers to the ability to collect information for employment or manage one’s career. The experimental group had the posttest mean of 3.79 points, which was higher than the pretest mean of 2.12 points, and this showed a statistically significant difference (
p < .05). However, the control group did not show a significant difference, with the posttest mean of 2.36 points and the pretest mean of 2.00 points (
p < .05). This shows that, by conducting job-related class every week, the participants can explore and show interest in vocation and manage their career, and thus the healing garden program based on vocational adaptation that included visits and field placement at the botanical garden and flower tea farm significantly improved their realistic vocational preparation. This is also in line with the result of previous research that field placement based on job experience affects job performance (
Kim, 2018). Moreover, as reported by previous research that independence is improved by various vocational experience programs in colleges that improve the dependent characteristics of persons with developmental disabilities (
Hong, 2012), the experimental group showed the posttest mean of 3.63 points that was higher than the pretest mean of 1.88 points, and the control group also showed the posttest mean of 2.93 points and the pretest mean of 2.03 points, with a slight increase in the mean that shows statistically significant difference. Therefore, the effect of the healing garden program based on vocational adaptation on independence was significant in both groups. But even though vocational rehabilitation training for college students with developmental disabilities improves their independence, this is not just the effect of the healing garden program. Overall, when applying the healing garden program to a class associated with vocational adaptation, its effect on career attitude is significant in all factors such as determination, finality, confidence, preparation, and independence, but the effect on independence and confidence is not just the effect of the healing garden program. This is also supported by pervious studies that college students with developmental disabilities show a significant growth in confidence through most job-related programs (
Kim, 2011;
Hong, 2012). This is also in line with the result that many attempts and studies on career and vocation of persons with developmental disabilities help improve their self-management skills such as confidence and independence (
Hwang, 2016). Nonetheless, the result that the healing garden program based on vocational adaptation has a positive effect on all components of career attitude for college students with developmental disabilities is in the same line as the study claiming that nature-based horticultural activities affect career attitude of multicultural women (
Kwack and Jang, 2014). Thus, for people facing difficulty in social adaptation, garden-related programs have positive effects on their attitude toward realistic problems like getting a job by giving them activeness (S.J.
Lee, 2007). In fact, according to the observation of the subjects, they showed greater interest in their career and higher expectancy for their leisure in garden activities, thereby becoming more active such as searching garden-related job information themselves or making a portfolio of their records in field placement. This proves that garden activities destroy the barriers in language or cultural knowledge and that they are accessible activities (
Jung, 2002;
Lee, 2016).