Visually grounded emotion regulation via diffusion models and user-driven reappraisal

Abstract: Cognitive reappraisal is a key strategy in emotion regulation, involving reinterpretation of emotionally charged stimuli to alter affective responses. Despite its central role in clinical and cognitive science, real-world reappraisal interventions remain cognitively demanding, abstract, and primarily verbal. This reliance on higher-order cognitive and linguistic processes is often impaired in individuals with trauma or depression, limiting the effectiveness of standard approaches. Here, we propose a novel, visually based augmentation of cognitive reappraisal by integrating large-scale text-to-image diffusion models into the emotional regulation process. Specifically, we introduce a system in which users reinterpret emotionally negative images via spoken reappraisals, which are transformed into supportive, emotionally congruent visualizations using stable diffusion models with a fine-tuned IP-adapter. This generative transformation visually instantiates users' reappraisals while maintaining structural similarity to the original stimuli, externalizing and reinforcing regulatory intent. To test this approach, we conducted a within-subject experiment (N = 20) using a modified cognitive emotion regulation (CER) task. Participants reappraised or described aversive images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), with or without AI-generated visual feedback. Results show that AI-assisted reappraisal significantly reduced negative affect compared to both non-AI and control conditions. Further analyses reveal that sentiment alignment between participant reappraisals and generated images correlates with affective relief, suggesting that multimodal coherence enhances regulatory efficacy. These findings demonstrate that generative visual input can support cogitive reappraisal and open new directions at the intersection of generative AI, affective computing, and therapeutic technology.