From Regulation to Support: Centering Humans in Technology-Mediated Emotion Intervention in Care Contexts

Enhancing emotional well-being has become an important focus in HCI and CSCW, with technologies and AI increasingly designed to track, manage, and regulate emotions. However, these approaches have faced criticism for potentially suppressing certain emotional experiences. Through a scoping review of 53 empirical studies from ACM proceedings implementing Technology-Mediated Emotion Intervention (TMEI), we examine current practices through lenses from HCI critical theories. Our analysis reveals emotion intervention mechanisms that extend beyond ''emotion regulation'' paradigms, identifying care-centered goals that prioritize non-judgmental emotional support and preserve users' identities. The findings demonstrate how researchers design technologies to generate artificial care, intervene in power dynamics, and nudge behavioral changes. By grounding our review in critical HCI scholarship, we contribute the concept of '' emotion support '' as an alternative approach to ''emotion regulation,'' emphasizing human-centered approaches to emotional well-being. This work advances the understanding of diverse human emotional needs beyond individualistic and cognitive perspectives, offering design implications that critically reimagine how artificial intelligence systems can honor emotional complexity, curate spaces for bad feelings, preserve human agency, and transform power dynamics in care contexts.