What Makes Text-Based Online Chat Work? Communication Features of Effective Chat Helpers' Responses to Chat Users

IF 1.5 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Pub Date : 2026-06-25 DOI:10.1002/capr.70166

Gerard Siew Keong Chung, Tse Min Lim

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Text-based online chat (TBC) offers accessible mental health support for youths and young persons who may avoid traditional face-to-face services. While research demonstrates TBC's effectiveness, limited studies examine which specific chat helpers' communication features contribute to positive outcomes. This study identified textual and linguistic characteristics of chat helpers' responses associated with chat users' perceptions of service usefulness in an online synchronous text-based chat service in Singapore.

Methods

We analysed 1062 chat sessions from youths and young persons aged 12–25 years collected between 2016 and 2020. We examined 26 communication features used by chat helpers including emoticon use, affective language, session duration, response lag time, four types of social support (emotional, informational, esteem, network), pronoun usage patterns, politeness markers, question frequency, linguistic complexity measures and superlatives. Analyses included univariate logistic regression and Latent Profile Analysis to identify communication styles.

Results

Eleven communication features significantly predicted positive outcomes. Emoticon use showed the strongest effect (7.3 percentage point increase), followed by affective language (6.4 points) and session duration (4.1 points). Three social support types were effective: network support (4.0 points), esteem support (3.8 points) and emotional support (2.7 points). Linguistic features including superlatives and words per sentence also predicted success. First-person pronouns used by chat helpers showed negative effects. Three distinct communication profiles emerged, with ‘Emotionally Expressive’ and ‘Inquiry-Driven’ styles achieving at least 86.6% success rates compared to 79.3% for ‘Typical’ style.

Conclusion

Effective TBC requires specific text-based skills including emotional expression through emoticons and affective language, and providing social support. Training programmes should develop these competencies while allowing for different communication styles such as emotionally expressive or inquiry-driven approaches.

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是什么让基于文本的在线聊天有效？有效聊天助手对聊天用户的响应的通信特征

基于文本的在线聊天（TBC）为可能避免传统面对面服务的青少年和年轻人提供了可获得的心理健康支持。虽然有研究证明了TBC的有效性，但有限的研究调查了哪些特定的聊天助手的交流特征有助于产生积极的结果。本研究在新加坡的一个在线同步文本聊天服务中，确定了聊天助手的回答与聊天用户对服务有用性的看法相关的文本和语言特征。方法对2016年至2020年收集的1062例12-25岁青少年的聊天记录进行分析。我们研究了聊天助手使用的26种交流特征，包括表情符号使用、情感语言、会话持续时间、反应滞后时间、四种类型的社会支持（情感、信息、尊重、网络）、代词使用模式、礼貌标记、问题频率、语言复杂性测量和最高级。分析包括单变量逻辑回归和潜在特征分析，以确定沟通风格。结果11项沟通特征显著预测积极结果。表情符号的使用影响最大（增加了7.3个百分点），其次是情感语言（增加了6.4个百分点）和会话时长（增加了4.1个百分点）。三种社会支持类型是有效的：网络支持（4.0分）、尊重支持（3.8分）和情感支持（2.7分）。最高级和每句话中的单词等语言特征也预示着成功。聊天助手使用的第一人称代词显示出负面影响。三种不同的沟通方式出现了，“情感表达型”和“询问驱动型”风格的成功率至少为86.6%，而“典型”风格的成功率为79.3%。有效的TBC需要特定的基于文本的技能，包括通过表情符号和情感语言表达情感，以及提供社会支持。培训方案应培养这些能力，同时允许不同的沟通方式，如情感表达或探究驱动的方法。

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来源期刊

Counselling & Psychotherapy Research PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

4.40

自引率

12.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Counselling and Psychotherapy Research is an innovative international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to linking research with practice. Pluralist in orientation, the journal recognises the value of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods strategies of inquiry and aims to promote high-quality, ethical research that informs and develops counselling and psychotherapy practice. CPR is a journal of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, promoting reflexive research strongly linked to practice. The journal has its own website: www.cprjournal.com. The aim of this site is to further develop links between counselling and psychotherapy research and practice by offering accessible information about both the specific contents of each issue of CPR, as well as wider developments in counselling and psychotherapy research. The aims are to ensure that research remains relevant to practice, and for practice to continue to inform research development.