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Cited by 30Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesDigital Mental Health InterventionsTelemedicine and Telehealth Implementation

Going online: The affordances of online counseling for families affected by alcohol and other drug issues

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Dilkes-Frayne, Ella, Savic, Michael, Carter, Adrian, Kokanović, Renata, Lubman, Dan I.·2019·Qualitative Health Research
DOI 10.1177/1049732319838231
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Abstract

Online counseling can overcome barriers families face when accessing support services for issues such as a relative’s alcohol or other drug use. However, little research has explored how online counseling platforms assist family members to improve their well-being and support their relative. We thematically analyzed 90 transcripts of online counseling sessions with family and friends of people who use alcohol, opioids, and amphetamines in Australia between 2015 and 2016. In our analysis, we drew on the concept of affordances to articulate how online platforms afford or constrain potentially therapeutic encounters with families. We found online counseling enabled families to make first contact, relieve distress, plan appropriate action, improve communication, regain direction, and connect with local services. Sessions were constrained by Internet access, web-chat communication, counselors’ focus on referral, and limitations in addressing the wider concerns of families. The findings present opportunities for improving online services for families.

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  • Many online interventions for substance use do not specifically assess the mental health outcomes of the CSO.

    “or do not specifically assess the mental health outcomes of the CSO (Dilkes-Frayne et al., 2019”

    From Online community reinforcement and family training (CRAFT) for rural concerned significant others: A randomized controlled trial (2026) · cites this paper as Dilkes-Frayne et al., 2019

    The Limitations and Future Directions section says this study could not determine how family members felt after counseling sessions. The Discussion also says online alcohol-and-drug counseling outcome monitoring is framed around substance-use concerns despite families’ mental-health needs. Neither passage establishes that many online interventions fail to assess CSOs’ mental-health outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Dilkes-Frayne, E., Savic, M., Carter, A., Kokanović, R., & Lubman, D. I.
Affiliations
  • Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
  • Eastern Health (AU)
  • The University of Queensland (AU)
  • RMIT University (AU)
ORCID
Venue
Qualitative Health Research
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2019-03-31
Volume
29
Issue
14
Pages
2010-2022
ISSN
  • 1049-7323 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-7557
DOI
10.1177/1049732319838231
OpenAlex
W2935477578
Cited by
30
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1
FWCI
2.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Qualitative Health Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
  • RMIT Research Repository (RMIT University Library) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Monash University
  • RMIT University
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (1123311)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
Keywords
online counseling, family support, alcohol consumption, opioid use, amphetamine use, affordances, barriers to support services, family well-being, internet access, referral, family communication
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Alcoholism, Australia, Counseling, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Telemedicine, Substance-Related Disorders, Young Adult

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