Help-Seeking from a National Youth Helpline in Australia: An Analysis of Kids Helpline Contacts

David Watling, Samantha Batchelor, Brian Collyer, Sharna Mathieu, Victoria Ross, Susan H. Spence and Kairi Kõlves
Additional contact information
David Watling: W.H.O Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Brisbane 4122, Australia
Samantha Batchelor: Advocacy and Research Division, Yourtown, Brisbane 4064, Australia
Brian Collyer: Advocacy and Research Division, Yourtown, Brisbane 4064, Australia
Sharna Mathieu: W.H.O Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Brisbane 4122, Australia
Victoria Ross: W.H.O Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Brisbane 4122, Australia
Susan H. Spence: W.H.O Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Brisbane 4122, Australia
Kairi Kõlves: W.H.O Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Brisbane 4122, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Counselling helplines or hotlines are key support services for young people with mental health concerns or in suicide and self-harm crises. We aimed to describe young peoples’ use of a national youth helpline (Kids Helpline, Australia, KHL) to understand how usage changed over time. A descriptive analysis was conducted on 1,415,228 answered contacts between 2012–2018. We described the trend of service usage over the observed period, the types of youth who used the service, and the problems young people contacted the service about. Phone (APC = ?9.1, KHL: ?10.4 to ?7.8, p < 0.001) and email (APC = ?13.7, 95%CI: ?17.1 to ?10.2, p < 0.001) contacts decreased over time whereas webchat contacts increased (APC = 16.7, 95%CI: 11.7 to 22.0, p < 0.001). With this increase in webchat contacts, there was an associated increase in total webchat contact duration. Concerns raised in contacts to the service were primarily related to emotional wellbeing and mental health concerns (53.2% phone, 57.3% webchat, 58.2% email) followed by social relationship issues (20.4% phone, 20.3% webchat, 16.8% email) and family relationships (19.4% phone, 17.2% webchat, 21.8% email). The increased preference for online text-based information and counselling services can help inform development of services for young people and allocation of staff/service training and resources.

Keywords: youth helpline; crisis hotline; telephone counselling; online counselling; help-seeking; young people; adolescence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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