Factors Affecting Willingness to Receive Online Counseling: The Mediating Role of Ethical Concerns

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional face-to-face counseling has gradually given way to online counseling. To improve the application value of online counseling and change the current situation of college students’ lack of willingness to receive online counseling, this study explored factors that influence Chinese college students’ willingness to receive online counseling (WROC). Based on data gathered from surveying 823 Chinese college students using self-report questionnaires, we clarified the relationships between the self-stigma of seeking help, ethical concerns about online counseling (ECOC), online interpersonal trust (OIT), and the willingness to receive online counseling (WROC). The results indicated that (1) self-stigma of seeking help and OIT negatively and positively predicted the WROC, respectively; (2) ethical concerns negatively predicted the WROC; and (3) ethical concerns mediated the relationship between self-stigma and WROC and between OIT and WROC. The results suggest that reducing the self-stigma surrounding help-seeking, perfecting the ethical norms of online counseling, and enhancing interpersonal trust can improve willingness to receive online counseling.