Predictors of willingness to use cyber counseling for college students with disabilities

BackgroundCyber counseling is a new method for assisting people in coping with distress. People in Taiwan are more familiar with face-to-face counseling than with cyber counseling. Using computers is the most popular activity among college students with disabilities. Cyber counseling is effective for lessening client disturbance. Therefore, cyber counseling is an alternative to face-to-face counseling.ObjectiveThis study measured the willingness of college students with disabilities to use cyber counseling to meet their mental health needs. In addition, the predictors of the willingness to use cyber counseling were explored.MethodsThe subjects were college students with disabilities who were recruited from universities in Southern Taiwan through the Internet and in college counseling centers. A total of 214 structured questionnaires were collected and subsequently analyzed using SPSS Version 18.0 through stepwise regression for discovering the crucial predictors of the willingness of college students to use cyber counseling.ResultsThe crucial predictors of the willingness of college students to use cyber counseling were cyber-counseling needs, the need for cyber-counseling methods (the need to use various cyber-counseling methods), a help-seeking attitude in cyber counseling, a hearing disorder, cyber counseling need for academic achievement, and grade level. The explained proportion of variance was 65.4%.ConclusionsThe willingness of college students with disabilities to use cyber counseling was explained according to cyber-counseling needs, cyber-counseling attitudes, disease type, and grades. Based on the results, this study offers specific suggestions and future directions for research on cyber counseling for college students with disabilities.