Emotion regulation (ER) is essential to mental well-being but often difficult to access, especially in high-intensity moments or for individuals with clinical vulnerabilities. While existing technology-based ER tools offer value, they typically rely on self-reflection (e.g., emotion tracking, journaling) or co-regulation through verbal modalities (reminders, text-based conversational tools), which may not be accessible or effective when most needed. The biological role of the touch modality makes it an intriguing alternate pathway, but empirical evidence is limited and under-theorized. Building on our prior theoretical framework describing how a comforting haptic co-regulating adjunct (CHORA) can support ER, we developed a zoomorphic robot CHORA with looped biomimetic breathing and heartbeat behaviors. We evaluated its effects in a mixed-methods in-lab study (N=30), providing physiological, self-report, custom questionnaire, and retrospective interview data. Our findings demonstrate the regulatory effects of haptically experienced animacy, corroborate prior work, and validate CHORA's {theoretically grounded} potential to facilitate four ER strategies.

翻译：情绪调节对心理健康至关重要，但在高情绪强度时刻或对于具有临床易感性的个体而言，往往难以有效进行。现有的技术辅助情绪调节工具虽有一定价值，但通常依赖于自我反思（如情绪追踪、日志记录）或通过言语模态的共调节（如提醒、基于文本的对话工具），这些方式在最需要时可能难以触及或效果有限。触觉模态的生物学作用使其成为一个值得探索的替代路径，但相关的实证证据有限且缺乏理论支撑。基于我们先前描述安慰性触觉共调节辅助装置如何支持情绪调节的理论框架，我们开发了一款具有循环仿生呼吸与心跳行为的动物形态机器人CHORA。我们通过一项混合方法的实验室研究（N=30）评估了其效果，收集了生理数据、自我报告、定制问卷及回顾性访谈数据。我们的研究结果证明了触觉感知的生命性所具有的调节作用，验证了先前的研究，并证实了CHORA在促进四种情绪调节策略方面基于理论的潜力。