# Momentary Stressor Logging and Reflective Visualizations: Implications for Stress Management with Wearables

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.16307 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.16307/

## Key facts

- Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 29 Jan 2024.

## Built on by (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Pulse-PPG: An Open-Source Field-Trained PPG Foundation Model for Wearable Applications Across Lab and Field Settings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01108/) (2025)
- [Wearable Meets LLM for Stress Management: A Duoethnographic Study Integrating Wearable-Triggered Stressors and LLM Chatbots for Personalized Interventions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.17650/) (2025)
- [A foundation model for electrodermal activity data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.16878/) (2026)
- [Prototype-based Self-Supervised Multimodal Learning for PPG and Accelerometry Signals](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.09764/) (2025)
- [CounselReflect: Opportunities and Challenges for Designing Tools to Support Self-Reflection on Mental Health and Well-Being Conversations with AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.29429/) (2026)
- [Personalized and Context-Aware Transformer Models for Predicting Post-Intervention Physiological Responses from Wearable Sensor Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.14738/) (2026)
- [TEX-MEX: Similarity-Guided Temporal Contrastive Learning for Time Series](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.19557/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Commercial wearables from Fitbit, Garmin, and Whoop have recently introduced real-time notifications based on detecting changes in physiological responses indicating potential stress. In this paper, we investigate how these new capabilities can be leveraged to improve stress management. We developed a smartwatch app, a smartphone app, and a cloud service, and conducted a 100-day field study with 122 participants who received prompts triggered by physiological responses several times a day. They were asked whether they were stressed, and if so, to log the most likely stressor. Each week, participants received new visualizations of their data to self-reflect on patterns and trends. Participants reported better awareness of their stressors, and self-initiating fourteen kinds of behavioral changes to reduce stress in their daily lives. Repeated self-reports over 14 weeks showed reductions in both stress intensity (in 26,521 momentary ratings) and stress frequency (in 1,057 weekly surveys).