CHAT-YOUTH NEWS

PROJECT PAGE / EVENTS / PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT / RESULTS / NETWORKING

CHAT-YOUTH project website has been remodeled!

As of 13.1.2025 the CHAT-YOUTH project site has moved to:

https://nuorisotutkimus.fi/en/research/chat-youth/

This page remains as a news page, and continues to share information about the project. More information about the CHAT-YOUTH project can be found also though the links above!

CHAT-YOUTH article published in Child & Youth Services

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 six 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.

Alix Helfer, Kati Kataja & Tuuli Pitkänen (2025). When Despair Takes Over: Suicide Conversations in an Online Counseling Chat Service for Youth. Child & Youth Services, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/0145935X.2024.2437758
Read the article here!

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:

Networking and Community of Practice meetings

The future CoP meetings:

Tuesday February 11th, 2025 (11-12u30 CET) register HERE
Tuesday June 17th, 2025 (11-12u30 CET)
Tuesday September 16th, 2025 (11-12u30 CET).

Webinars:

Webinar 1: 14th of January (15u – 17u CET): Artificial Intelligence, register HERE
Webinar 2: May 2025 (parallel with symposium in Ghent, Belgium)
Stakeholder symposium: 22-23 May 2025
Webinar 3: November/December 2025

If you wish to learn more about the CoPs or the webinars, feel free to contact Elke Denayer (elke.denayer@ugent.be) with any questions or suggestions.

Funding and partners

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 and Siiri Soininvaara, Finnish Youth Research Society, Finland