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Co-Designing VR for Teen Mental Health

Elin A. Björling, (University of Washington)

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Thinking about stress...

Emma

Take a moment to think about your experience of stress. How many of you have ever felt stressed while here, on campus? Raise your hands?

We’ve asked that questions to roomful of teens and every single hand goes up. It seems like feeling stress, while in school, is a universal experience. This starts in middle school, that experience of feeling stress starts at the beginning adolescent.

If I asked you right now, how many of you are feeling stress?

How stressed are you right now? Are you worried about the CHI paper you are working on? Maybe you have a deadline coming up for a grant? Or maybe there is something else in your life, a sick family member, a child struggling at school, generalized anxiety about the state of our world.

Or perhaps you are feeling very little stress. You just got back from vacation and are feeling refreshed and excited to get back to work? Or had a lovely walk or bike to campus this morning? Or got a message from a long lost friend or a new love.

It’s very easy for your to assess how you are feeling right now, at this very moment because you are living this moment. And if we asked you to complete a survey or answer a questions in an interview. You could easily assess your currentl stress level and tell us how you feel.

But what if I ask you about last Thursday… or two weeks ago. If you are like most people, you can’t report very accurately or confidently about your day to day stress levels unless there is some specific and memorable event that stands out in your mind. Our memories are good at life-changing moments, but less so about the variable day-to-day of everyday life.

In our talk, we are going to deal with that very problem...

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Problem: Teen Stress

Teens experience more chronic stress, than other age groups.

Adolescent brain is extremely vulnerable to the negative impact of stress.

Stress increases the possibility of both mental and physical illnesses.

Stress is highly correlated with pain (typically headaches and backpain).

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What is the experience of teen stress?

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What does stress feel like?

“I cannot function. You are very, like, scattered brain. You cannot concentrate on any one thing because you have to do all these things at the same time.”

“Suffocating, almost. Like I can’t move.”

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What does stress feel like?

“When I get stressed, I just feel like I have to cry. And even, if it's just something little that goes wrong, I get really upset about it.”

“You can’t breathe.”

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How might we design a VR environment to support teen mental health?

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Teen Mental Health: A Wicked Problem Requiring Crosscutting Design Solution

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Problem Space: Increasing Stress – Decreasing Mental Health

Teens experience more chronic stress, than other age groups¹.�
Adolescent brain is extremely vulnerable to the negative impact of stress².�
Stress is highly correlated with depression and suicidal ideation².

¹American Psychological Association (2014)

²Eiland & Romeo (2013)

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Problem Space: School Stress

Teens report school as their #1 stressor¹
Schools in the U.S. are under resourced, underfunded, undertrained to manage teen mental health
School communities are unique in their stressors

¹American Psychological Association (2014)

²American College Health Association (2018)

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What is mental health?

Mental Health is:

A spectrum
Individualized
Multi-layered

Currently VR in Mental Health

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Participatory Design With Teens

Teens Are:

Collaborators
Co-Designers
Co-Researchers
Robot Operators
Interaction Witnesses

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Thanks!

Elin Björling: bjorling@uw.edu

@elinbjorling

@projectEMAR

�http:/sites.uw.edu/emar

National Science Foundation

award: SES-1734100

�