Adolescents' Willingness to Utilize Online Counseling

This study was a descriptive examination of the likelihood that adolescents would utilize online counseling to address their school counseling needs as compared to face-to-face counseling. Ninth to twelfth grade students at a suburban high school with proximity to a large metropolitan city were chosen for this study. This convenience sample was chosen due to the high academic profile of the students, the integration of computers into the school curriculum, the strong utilization of the counseling program, and the high counselor/student ratio.

The research questions were explored using a two-part questionnaire with a sample size of 300. Individual Internet frequency and type of use as well as knowledge of the services that were available to them at their school were assessed. Counseling style preference for either online or face-to-face counseling was compared for specific school related issues. Frequency tables and cross tabulations were used to analyze the data.

As would be expected, analyses showed that students were frequent users of the Internet as well as frequent users of email and instant messaging. They were mostly unaware of the counseling services that were offered at their school and completely unaware that there were counseling services available online. Students said they would not go to a school counselor either online or in person for any of the specified issues. However, more students reacted positively about having access to a school counselor at times of the day and night that went beyond the traditional school hours.