MICRO project

Anxiety and depression in children have substantially increased in Europe, contributing to rising suicide rates and long-term societal costs. Some children are particularly affected—such as those with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) or children who have experienced forced migration. Yet there is limited research on how children’s wellbeing and mental health relate to linguistic abilities and social interaction—areas where these vulnerable groups often face difficulties.

The MICRO project addresses this gap by investigating how linguistic abilities and the ability to successfully engage in social interactions affect mental health and wellbeing in children aged 8–12. A key innovation of the project is the use of social robots in school settings as novel tools to assess mental health. Children often hesitate to share sensitive information with adults. A recent study by one of our project partners (University of Cambridge) showed that using robots in the assessment process provided promising results in identifying wellbeing-related concerns, therefore offering a promising alternative for assessing children’s mental health and wellbeing.

At ETH Zurich, we lead the validation of robot-assisted wellbeing and mental health measures and conduct empirical child–robot interaction studies with typically developing children in Switzerland and Germany. These studies, conducted both one-on-one and in triads, help evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of robot-mediated assessments in naturalistic school settings.

MICRO is a collaboration between ETH Zurich, Uppsala University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Bielefeld.