Peer Counseling in an Online Chat Service: A Content Analysis of Social Support

In a recently launched one-on-one chat service for young people with psychosocial problems, young peer volunteers (ages 16-23) have a leading role in the conversations, comparable to the role of counselors in web-based and telephone-based child help-line services. A content analysis of the chat conversations showed that the contribution of the peer counselors in the confidential chat sessions satisfied the various quality criteria of the service. Moreover, the peer counselors offered the young people who visited the site varied types of social support. The variety of types of social support appeared a stronger predictor of the quality ratings than the length of the conversation or the quantity (instead of variety) of social support, which emphasizes the importance of multidimensional social support in online conversations.

[1]  Vincent R. Waldron,et al.  Communication of social support in computer-mediated groups for people with disabilities. , 1999, Health communication.

[2]  Amy M. Bippus.  Recipients' criteria for evaluating the skillfulness of comforting communication and the outcomes of comforting interactions , 2001 .

[3]  Robert LaRose,et al.  Alt.support: modeling social support online , 2005, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[4]  Sarah Parker,et al.  Seeking help from the internet during adolescence. , 2002, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[5]  Azy Barak,et al.  Factors Related to Perceived Helpfulness in Supporting Highly Distressed Individuals through an Online Support Chat , 2006, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[6]  Shannon Scielzo,et al.  A comparison of face-to-face and electronic peer-mentoring: Interactions with mentor gender , 2008 .

[7]  A. Winzelberg.  The analysis of an electronic support group for individuals with eating disorders , 1997 .

[8]  Louis Leung,et al.  Stressful Life Events, Motives for Internet Use, and Social Support Among Digital Kids , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[9]  R. Fukkink,et al.  Children's experiences with chat support and telephone support. , 2009, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[10]  Jo M. A. Hermanns,et al.  Counseling children at a helpline: chatting or calling? , 2009 .

[11]  J. Suhr,et al.  Controllability of Stressful Events and Satisfaction With Spouse Support Behaviors , 1992 .

[12]  Scott E. Caplan,et al.  Bringing theory to research on computer-mediated comforting communication , 2007, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[13]  Brant R. Burleson,et al.  The Development of Comforting Communication Skills in Childhood and Adolescence. , 1982 .

[14]  Maya M Hammoud,et al.  Is video review of patient encounters an effective tool for medical student learning? A review of the literature , 2012, Advances in medical education and practice.

[15]  Christiane Poulin,et al.  Online health promotion, early identification of difficulties, and help seeking in young people. , 2007, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.