Results

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On the Results page you can find the results of the CHAT-YOUTH associated research. Here you can find the published articles related to the CHAT-YOUTH project. We have also produced a brief report in six languages, that describes the current questions of online chat counselling services (OCCS). The recordings of the webinars that the CHAT-YOUTH project has produced can be found here.

NEW PUBLICATIONS WITH OUR ASSOCIATES

Janne Takala, Alix Helfer & Tuuli Pitkänen (2025). Nuoren toimijuus ja avunsaamisen oikeutus anonyymissä chat-palvelussa [Young people’s agency and entitlement to get help in anonymous online chat counselling services. In Finnish]. In Ville-Samuli Haverinen, Sari Tuuva-Hongisto Sari & Kristiina Korjonen-Kuusipuro Digitaalinen nuoruus ja kasvavat erot. Nuorisotutkimusseura.

How do the anonymous online chat counselling services support young people’s own agency? Do the young service users feel entitled to the help they receive? The research indicates that many young people perceive the anonymous online chat counselling service as a place where they have the opportunity to discuss issues they do not want to talk about in face-to-face services.

Read the abstract available in English.

Alix Helfer, Kati Kataja & Tuuli Pitkänen (2025). When Despair Takes Over: Suicide Conversations in an Online Counseling Chat Service for Youth. (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) Child & Youth Services, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/0145935X.2024.2437758

How do young people discuss the topic of suicide in an anonymous chat counselling service? A new research paper examines young people’s genuine experiences in terms of suicidal behavior discussed online and their motivations for seeking help anonymously.

The study consisted of text-based synchronous conversations between young service users and online adult counsellors during a period of five months. For in-depth analyses, 62 conversations were selected and analyzed focusing on the described suicidal behavior and the given reasons for despair and entering the OCCS.

A BRIEF REPORT – RESULTS FROM WP2

What are the strengths of online counselling chat services? What is needed to start one? How can the most common problems associated with online chat services be addressed?

Based on thorough desk reviews and interviews of the experts of the field, the CHAT-YOUTH consortium has produced a brief report on the most pressing issues of online chat counselling services for youth.

The report is available as a pdf-file here:

Project team

ERASMUS+ KA220-YOU – Cooperation partnerships in youth.

Alexis Dewaele, Lien Goossens and Elke Denayer, Universiteit Gent, Belgium
Maria Cabello Salmerón and Irati Higuera Lozano, La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Katalin Felvinczi, Zsuza Kaló and Mónika Rényi, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
Tuuli Pitkänen, Siiri Soininvaara, Finnish Youth Research Society, Finland