Designing a Smartwatch-based Micro-Intervention to Support Students Emotion Regulation

Emotion regulation is essential for students’ well-being and success. However, many students lack emotion regulation skills. This study explores the use of smartwatches to deliver real-time emotion regulation interventions supporting students in stress-full situations. Given their ability to monitor physiological indicators and provide immediate feedback, smartwatches offer a promising solution for delivering emotion regulation micro-interventions. We designed a smartwatch-based micro-intervention and conducted a usability test to evaluate how students interact with the interventions on the smartwatch and their potential to support regulating emotions during stressful situations. Within a controlled laboratory environment, the study involved 13 participants (7 males, 6 females) who were exposed to positive and negative mood induction tasks, followed by emotion regulation interventions delivered via smartwatch notifications. Usability and user experience were assessed using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ), complemented by qualitative interviews. Our findings provide insights into the potential of wearable technology to support emotion regulation through micro-interventions. However, future research is needed to enhance personalization, usability, and real-world applicability of the proposed smartwatch-based intervention to successfully support emotion regulation.