Masters Thesis

Online counseling: attitudes and potential utilization by college students

Student needs at college counseling centers are outpacing current resources. Key organizations such as the American Psychological Association and the California higher public education systems have emphasized the importance of incorporating technological advances into current practice standards. This study explored college students' knowledge of and interest in online counseling as well as provided useful information for colleges interested in offering online services. College students (N = 119) completed the Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help-Short Form, the Online Counseling Attitudes Scale, the Face-to-Face Counseling Attitudes Scale, and questionnaires developed by the researchers. The majority of the sample was female (71.4%, n = 85), White (62.2%, n = 74), aged 18-25 (83.2%, n = 99), and had declared a social sciences major (63.0%, n = 75). Results demonstrated promising student interest with 28.9% of participants stating they had utilized online counseling and 64.4% endorsing online counseling as a good alternative for their mental health needs. Most participants (77.3%) said they would agree to provide relevant contact information for a crisis. As expected, perceived value of face-to-face counseling correlated with general help-seeking attitudes r(119) = .498, p .01. Interestingly, a small but significant correlation was also found between general help-seeking behavior and online counseling attitudes, r(119) = .177, p = .001. Gender differences consistent with counseling literature emerged for face-to-face but not online counseling; females reported more favorable general help-seeking t(117) = 3.362, p = .001, and perceived value of face-to-face counseling t(117) = 2.295, p = .024, attitudes. Differential results for face-to-face and online counseling suggest that students perceive online counseling differently and that it may be useful for college counseling centers to provide education about the two forms of therapy. For example, to increase the familiarity of online psychological support, an online counseling seminar could be incorporated into new student orientation with additional tutorials found on the college counseling center website. In conclusion, the substantial student interest in online counseling suggests that different will not necessarily deter people from utilizing online support and that online counseling may be a worthwhile endeavor for college counseling centers to seriously consider as a way to meet at least some student demands.

Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.