Supporting Cognitive Reappraisal With Digital Technology: A Content Analysis and Scoping Review of Challenges, Interventions, and Future Directions

Cognitive reappraisal (CR) is a critical emotion regulation skill that is strongly associated with mental well-being outcomes. While CR has been well theorized psychologically and many therapeutic approaches exist, CR remains one of the toughest skills to learn and develop. We explore the design space of using technologically-mediated CR supports through a dual approach. First, we draw on a content analysis of 30 therapeutic manuals combined with five clinician interviews to understand existing CR processes and challenges in therapeutic settings. Second, we compare the identified challenges with a scoping review of 42 HCI papers on technologically-mediated CR interventions. This allowed us to identify trends and gaps in a field where digital health innovations are critically needed; and suggest four design opportunities that warrant further exploration. Together, our work contributes theoretically-derived future research opportunities, and provides researchers with concrete guidance to explore these important design spaces.