Predicting the Intention to Use Cybercounseling Among Chinese Adolescents: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

With the rapid development of Information Communication Technology, cybercounseling has become a more feasible modality to receive psychological support. However, very limited research has explored the intention to use cybercounseling. This study aimed to use an extended theory of planned behavior (E-TPB) model to predict the intention to use cybercounseling among Chinese adolescents. The moderation effect of gender in the constructs of the E-TPB model was also investigated. A total of 1,216 Chinese adolescents (602 males, mean age = 14.21, standard deviation = 1.28) completed the self-report questionnaire. Structural equation modeling and multigroup analyses were performed using AMOS 20.0. The overall E-TPB model explained 29.8 percent of the variance in the intention to use cybercounseling. Subjective norm (SN) was the strongest predictor of the intention to use cybercounseling, followed by perceived behavioral control (PBC) and attitude (ATT). Moreover, two additional variables (i.e., attitude toward Internet and computer self-efficacy) significantly predicted the ATT and PBC, respectively. Furthermore, gender was found to significantly moderate the E-TPB model. Unexpectedly, social stigma toward seeking psychological help did not show a significant effect on SN. This study showed that the E-TPB is an efficient model to explain the intention to use cybercounseling and suggested the influence of social factor (i.e., SN) on the intention to use cybercounseling among Chinese adolescents. These results would be beneficial for understanding and promoting the cybercounseling application.