Self-tracking for Mental Wellness: Understanding Expert Perspectives and Student Experiences

Previous research suggests an important role for self-tracking in promoting mental wellness. Recent studies with college student populations have examined the feasibility of collecting everyday mood, activity, and social data. However, these studies do not account for students' experiences and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems. CHI Conference Vol. 2017; p. 629
Main Authors: Kelley, Christina, Lee, Bongshin, Wilcox, Lauren
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 02.05.2017
Subjects:
User-centered design
personal informatics
patient–clinician communication
Self-monitoring
health communication
mental health
mental wellness
self-tracking
Quantified Self
H.5.2. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI)
J.3. Life and medical sciences: Health
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:Previous research suggests an important role for self-tracking in promoting mental wellness. Recent studies with college student populations have examined the feasibility of collecting everyday mood, activity, and social data. However, these studies do not account for students' experiences and challenges adopting self-tracking technologies to support mental wellness goals. We present two studies conducted to better understand self-tracking for stress management and mental wellness in student populations. First, focus groups and card sorting activities with 14 student health professionals reveal expert perspectives on the usefulness of tracking for three scenarios. Second, an online survey of 297 students examines personal experiences with self-tracking and attitudes toward sharing self-tracked data with others. We draw on findings from these studies to characterize students' motivations, challenges, and preferences in collecting and viewing self-tracked data related to mental wellness, and we compare findings between students with diagnosed mental illnesses and those without. We conclude with a discussion of challenges and opportunities in leveraging self-tracking for mental wellness, highlighting several design considerations.
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DOI:10.1145/3025453.3025750