Internet Sites and Apps Available to Students Seeking Counselling, and What School Counsellors Should Know About Them

Abstract

Consumers are increasingly turning to both the internet and apps for mental health assistance. Mobile technologies such as smart phones and tablets offer swift and anonymous access for students to internet sites and app environments. Availability, however, does not guarantee quality or credibility. This web-based pilot study was undertaken to evaluate internet sites and apps on their ability to provide quality and credible information about counselling and counsellors. Of the 69 internet sites identified, only five met the inclusion criteria, and of the 30 apps identified, only eight met the inclusion criteria for quality and credibility. Inter-observer agreement was found to be 95.6% for the inclusion processes and 93% for quality and credibility. The findings strongly suggested that while there was a vast amount of information on the web, both internet sites and apps rarely met criteria for quality and credibility. The role of school counsellors in helping students use web-based counselling tools was discussed.