College students’ attitudes, stigma, and intentions toward seeking online and face‐to‐face counseling

Abstract

Objective(s)To investigate differences in public stigma, self‐stigma, attitudes (value and discomfort), and intentions to seek help between online and face‐to‐face counseling. To identify a difference in the relationship between these variables and both counseling modalities.MethodAn online survey completed by 538 college students from one university in the Southeastern United States. The sample included 412 females and 126 males with a mean age of 20.21 years (standard deviation [SD] = 1.26).ResultsSignificantly higher levels of self‐stigma and discomfort toward online counseling were reported. Significantly higher value and intentions were reported toward face‐to‐face counseling. Self‐stigma was positively related to public stigma, value was negatively related to self‐stigma, and intentions toward seeking help was positively related to value.ConclusionsResults suggest face‐to‐face counseling is seen as a more favorable method of service delivery compared to online counseling. Value toward online counseling is an important predictor for seeking this type of help.

College Student Perspectives of Telemental Health: a Review of the Recent Literature

“…Additionally, they expressed feeling more comfortable meeting with a therapist in-person rather than online. In another survey of 500 college students, 93% said they would prefer face-to-face therapy rather than video conferencing or other virtual counseling [ 51 ]. Similarly, in a smaller survey study of 41 undergraduate students, 88% ( n = 37) expressed a preference for face-to-face mental health counseling [ 52 ].…”

“…For example, one-third of youth reported that they would feel concerned about judgment from others if they were to call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline [ 53 ]. Furthermore, stigma is correlated with a lower level of perceived value and higher level of discomfort among students toward not only face-to-face mental health treatment but also TMH [ 51 ].…”

Stress, anxiety, binge drinking, and substance use among college student-athletes: A cross-sectional analysis

“…Perceived stress was the single largest predictor of emotional distress among student-athletes in this study (Brown et al, 2014). Ad-ditionally, student-athletes experiencing emotional distress are less likely than their peers to seek professional support (Bird, Chow, & Yang, 2020;Kern et al, 2017), often due to time constraints and concerns about stigma (Bird, Chow, & Cooper, 2020).…”

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“…According to research by Bird et al, the value of online counseling is an important predictor that affects users with mental illness who are seeking such help [ 11 ]. When they perceive that online counseling can provide valuable psychological support, the likelihood of these users using such services will be higher.…”

“…For example, Serhal et al measured the satisfaction of users with mental illness with five aspects of online health consultation services: access and timeliness, appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency, and safety [ 31 ]. Thus, a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the needs, attention, and emotional attitudes of users with mental illnesses regarding online counseling is an important factor in promoting the sustainable and healthy development of online psychological counseling services [ 11 , 32 ]. For privacy protection reasons, the identification of counselors and information about visitors’ consultations in online psychological counseling services cannot be made public.…”