TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - Texting for help: processes and impact of text counseling with children and youth with suicide ideation
JO  - Suicide and life-threatening behavior
A1  - Sindahl, Trine N.
A1  - Côte, Louis-Phillippe
A1  - Dargis, Luc
A1  - Mishara, Brian L.
A1  - Bechmann Jensen, Torben
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To explore: (1) how children contacting a child helpline with suicide ideation differ from children discussing other topics, (2) whether text messaging effectively helps, and (3) which counselor behaviors are most effective. <br><br>METHOD: Of 6,060 text sessions at the Danish national child helpline, 444 concerned suicidality, of which the 102 sessions that included self-rated, end Session ratings were selected for content analysis. <br><br>RESULTS: Twenty-six percentage of suicidal children had severe suicidality. The suicide sample had significantly more girls, was older than the nonsuicide sample, and more often recontacted the helpline in the 2 weeks prior to follow-up. 35.9% of suicidal children felt better immediately and over half ended the session with a plan of action. At follow-up, 23.9% of suicidal children reported feeling better; however, 37.0% reported feeling worse. Talking about emotions, expressing empathy, and encouraging the child to talk to someone were associated with positive impacts. Setting boundaries was associated with negative impacts. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Texting with suicidal children can be helpful, but should be considered a first step toward obtaining more sustainable help. Research is needed to determine how to better help children who felt worse or did not improve in the 2 weeks after contacting the helpline. Suggestions to further training of counselors are discussed.<br><br>© 2018 The American Association of Suicidology.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0363-0234
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12531
ID  - ref1
ER  -