Table 2.

Overview of themes and subthemes related to the selection factors domain that were confirmed and identified in the study.

Themes and subthemes		Strength	Examples
Safety		Very strong
	Increased privacy	Very strong	“Privacy is important to me because I reallyyyy do not want my parents to know... well, anything”, “It’s difficult to have a phone conversation about delicate matters when others are around but no one can over hear a web chat”
	Facilitates honesty or communication of sensitive issues	Very strong	“I can talk about things I would otherwise be too scared to talk about like past sexual abuse”
	Increased anonymity	Strong	“I feel in control of things better being anonymous it's easier to chat about hard things”
	Reducing the emotional intensity of conversation	Strong	“Less confronting, as phone calls I find hard to deal with and I feel less self-conscious on a webchat”
	Increasing control and autonomy	Strong	“I needed to feel like I could control the conversation, like I could say whatever I wanted and not feel judged”
Avoidance motivation		Strong
	Being overheard or seen attending a service	Moderate	“I did not want my family to find out that I needed to talk to someone. as far as they were concerned I was happy”
	Social interaction	Weak	“I don't really like talking to people or people who help so I found the online service very helpful. They could still get an idea of your issue but you didn't have to go back or be face to face”
	Minimize intense Or difficult emotions	Weak	“Because I get teary easily and I don't like crying whilst trying to talk to someone”
	Counsellor reaction	Weak	“It's so much easier to talk o counsellors online or via email because they don't know who you are, don't know who you look like, how you act etc. So they can't exactly judge you on things like that, that some people find are important”
Accessibility		Strong
	Convenience and flexibility	Strong	“I can come on at any time when I feel I need to, rather than wait for the appointment with another counsellor face to face”
	Faster access to counseling	Strong	“Because I become in need of support very suddenly often when I am alone, so this means I can access support immediately”
	Affordability	Strong	“I am very young and have no way of getting to or paying for face-to-face counseling”
	Counseling in areas of low service Density	Weak	“Where I live, there isn't any services such as a therapist”
	Source one’s own counseling support	Weak	“I was restricted in a way meaning that I wasn’t able to be taken somewhere to see a councillor [sic] so this was the only way I was able to access help”
Expectations		Strong
	Help with low complexity issue	Moderate	—a
	More helpful than other services	Moderate	—
	Comparable to other services	Moderate	“I think that online counseling is just as helpful compared to face to face counseling and that’s important to me because usually during the week, because of school, I don’t have time be taken to see a counsellor face to face”.
	Help with high complexity issues	Moderate	—
	Self-responsibility or realistic expectations	Weak	“It can be helpful to talk to people but sometimes, it's only up to yourself to fix yourself. Nobody can help you, and although it can be a bit depressing and overwhelming thinking about that, it's true”

^aNot available.