Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

EmoStory: Co-designing Storytelling with Children to Support Self-reflection for Mental Wellbeing

  • Siming Wang
  • , Jiaxin Wu
  • , Yuzhen Hu
  • , Mingyang Sun
  • , Wen Jie Zhao
  • , Tong Guo
  • , Xiaoqing Sun
  • , Xipei Ren*
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Beijing Institute of Technology
  • University of Macau

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Mental health issues in children are becoming an increasing global concern, resulting in cognitive impairments and raising the risk of negative behaviors. In this paper, we envision storytelling as a promising tool for facilitating constructive self-reflection in children, thereby enhancing their emotional self-regulation and mental well-being. We introduce EmoStory, a card-based generative design toolkit that supports children in creating personalized narratives based on their self-reported mood and behavior data. Drawing on a co-design workshop with 26 children, we gathered qualitative data that underscores the benefits of storytelling for self-reflection, explores the characteristics and preferences of children’s stories, and outlines a supportive workflow for storytelling-based reflection. We conclude with a discussion on the implications for future storytelling-based human-computer interaction (HCI) systems designed to support children’s self-reflection.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare - 19th EAI International Conference, Pervasive Health 2025, Proceedings
EditorsJun Hu, Maarten Houben, Karin Coninx, Bin Yu, Luigi Borzì
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages528-542
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)9783032275813
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2026
Externally publishedYes
Event19th EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare, Pervasive Health 2025 - Eindhoven, Netherlands
Duration: 15 Oct 202517 Oct 2025

Publication series

NameLecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, LNICST
Volume693 LNICST
ISSN (Print)1867-8211
ISSN (Electronic)1867-822X

Conference

Conference19th EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare, Pervasive Health 2025
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityEindhoven
Period15/10/2517/10/25

Keywords

  • children
  • co-design
  • mental wellbeing
  • Self-reflection
  • storytelling

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'EmoStory: Co-designing Storytelling with Children to Support Self-reflection for Mental Wellbeing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this