Evaluating the Experience of Teen-to-Teen Crisis Line Volunteers: A Pilot Study

TL;DR

This pilot study explores the experiences of teen volunteers who work on crisis lines to help their peers, revealing their motivations and impacts of the work.

Contribution

The study is the first to examine the experiences of adolescent volunteers in teen-to-teen crisis line work.

Findings

Teens primarily joined the crisis line to help others and give back to the community.

Volunteers dealt with a range of issues, including high-risk suicide contacts.

The work had various impacts on the volunteers' lives.

Abstract

Teen-to-teen (t2t) crisis lines are a special type of crisis service where youth volunteers help their peers. Although prior research has examined the experience of adult crisis line responders, no research has examined the experience of adolescents who do this work. In collaboration with two of the largest t2t lines in the U.S., this pilot study is the first examination of t2t crisis line work. Volunteers (ages 14–20) reported: their primary motivation for joining the crisis lines was to help others and give back to the community; responding to a range of peers’ problems on the t2t crisis line, including high-risk suicide contacts; and a range of ways the crisis line work impacted their lives. Findings provide preliminary information about the experience of adolescents engaging in t2t crisis line work. Additional research is needed in larger and more diverse samples to understand the impact of crisis line work for youth.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10597-024-01298-z.