Children's experiences with chat support and telephone support

Authors: Fukkink, Ruben G.; Hermanns, Jo M.A.

Source: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, Volume 50, Number 6, June 2009 , pp. 759-766(8)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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Abstract:

Background:

In line with the wider trend of offering support via the Internet, many counseling and referral services for children have introduced online chat, often in addition to a traditional telephone service. Methods:

A comparative study was conducted between the telephone service and the confidential one-on-one online chat service of the Dutch Kindertelefoon. The design included a concise pretest and a posttest (n = 902). The study also comprised a follow-up test (n = 213), which included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results:

Children experienced a higher sense of well-being and a reduced severity of their problems after consulting the Kindertelefoon. The results were slightly more favorable for the chat service than for the telephone service. The follow-up survey showed that many of the children who contact the Kindertelefoon suffer from relatively severe emotional problems. Conclusions:

Both the telephone and the web-based support improved the children's well-being and decreased their perceived burden of problem. The results of this study underline the need for closer cooperation between child helplines and mental health and child welfare services.

Keywords: Child helpline; telephone support; online support; online chat; adolescence; computers; evaluation; behavior problems; service development

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.02024.x

Publication date: 2009-06-01