Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


osu1186512999.pdf (826.67 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

To e- or not to e-: An analogue study of disclosure rates in e-counseling

Camillus, Courtney Marie
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1186512999

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Online counseling services are rapidly becoming a common means of therapy. Despite the rapid emergence of this modality of treatment, however, many counseling psychologists are not involved in the provision of these services (VandenBos & Williams, 2000) or the empirical investigation of the viability of these services. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to empirically investigate one aspect of online counseling: whether disclosure rates of participants differ when they are online versus face-to-face. Specifically, the study sought to examine any differences in participants’ disclosure patterns between online and face-to-face conditions to explore how the internet may play a role in willingness to disclose. In addition, to the extent possible, the study attempted to determine whether gender or ethnic differences in response rates would emerge. A battery consisting of six demographic questions, a social desirability measure, and a set of personal questions was administered to 121 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course at a large, Midwestern university. A preliminary study was conducted to determine the “intimacy categories” of the personal questions. Participants had the option of enrolling in either a face-to-face modality or an online modality. The primary hypotheses were as follows: (1) participants in the online modality will disclose at higher rates than participants in the face-to-face modality, and (2) the gap in disclosure rates between modalities will increase as intimacy ratings of the personal questions increase. As expected, participants in the online modality disclosed at a higher rate than participants in the face-to-face modality. With regard to the second hypothesis, there was no significant difference between response rates in the online versus the face-to-face setting for low intimacy questions, nor was there a significant difference between response rates for high intimacy questions. The only subset of questions that produced a statistically significant difference in disclosure rates was the set of moderate intimacy questions. Thus, while the trend from low to moderate supported the author’s hypothesis that differences in response rates between the two modalities would increase as the questions became more intimate, this trend appeared to reverse itself when the high intimacy questions were considered.
Pamela Highlen (Advisor)
104 p.
Psychology, General
Online counseling; Web-based therapy; disclosure

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Camillus, C. M. (2007). To e- or not to e-: An analogue study of disclosure rates in e-counseling [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1186512999

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Camillus, Courtney. To e- or not to e-: An analogue study of disclosure rates in e-counseling. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1186512999.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Camillus, Courtney. "To e- or not to e-: An analogue study of disclosure rates in e-counseling." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1186512999

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1186512999
985
© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.