# From Momentary Emotion Inference to Sustained Emotion Support: Evaluating a Companion Agent in a Longitudinal Study

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16344 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.16344/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 33 of its 106 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 33)

- [ChatGPT Outperforms Crowd-Workers for Text-Annotation Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.15056/) (2023)
- [Evaluating Very Long-Term Conversational Memory of LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.17753/) (2024)
- [LongMemEval: Benchmarking Chat Assistants on Long-Term Interactive Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.10813/) (2024)
- [Towards Emotional Support Dialog Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01144/) (2021)
- [Can LLMs Keep a Secret? Testing Privacy Implications of Language Models via Contextual Integrity Theory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.17884/) (2023)
- [Know Me, Respond to Me: Benchmarking LLMs for Dynamic User Profiling and Personalized Responses at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.14225/) (2025)
- [Eliciting Human Preferences with Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.11589/) (2023)
- [Cognitive Reframing of Negative Thoughts through Human-Language Model Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.02466/) (2023)
- [Improving Multi-turn Emotional Support Dialogue Generation with Lookahead Strategy Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.04242/) (2022)
- ["It's a Fair Game", or Is It? Examining How Users Navigate Disclosure Risks and Benefits When Using LLM-Based Conversational Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.11653/) (2023)
- [Can Large Language Models be Good Emotional Supporter? Mitigating Preference Bias on Emotional Support Conversation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.13211/) (2024)
- [Facilitating Self-Guided Mental Health Interventions Through Human-Language Model Interaction: A Case Study of Cognitive Restructuring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.15461/) (2023)
- [MindfulDiary: Harnessing Large Language Model to Support Psychiatric Patients' Journaling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.05231/) (2023)
- [Leveraging Large Language Models to Power Chatbots for Collecting User Self-Reported Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.05843/) (2023)
- [ESCoT: Towards Interpretable Emotional Support Dialogue Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.10960/) (2024)
- [Memory Sandbox: Transparent and Interactive Memory Management for Conversational Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.01542/) (2023)
- [ChaCha: Leveraging Large Language Models to Prompt Children to Share Their Emotions about Personal Events](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.12244/) (2023)
- [K-EmoCon, a multimodal sensor dataset for continuous emotion recognition in naturalistic conversations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.04120/) (2020)
- [GPTCoach: Towards LLM-Based Physical Activity Coaching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.06061/) (2024)
- [Customizing Emotional Support: How Do Individuals Construct and Interact With LLM-Powered Chatbots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.12943/) (2025)
- [Fine-grained Affective Processing Capabilities Emerging from Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.01664/) (2023)
- [ComPeer: A Generative Conversational Agent for Proactive Peer Support](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.18064/) (2024)
- [MindScape Study: Integrating LLM and Behavioral Sensing for Personalized AI-Driven Journaling Experiences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.09570/) (2024)
- [VITA: A Multi-modal LLM-based System for Longitudinal, Autonomous, and Adaptive Robotic Mental Well-being Coaching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.09740/) (2023)
- [Large Language Models are Capable of Offering Cognitive Reappraisal, if Guided](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.01288/) (2024)
- [Investigating Large Language Models' Perception of Emotion Using Appraisal Theory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.04450/) (2023)
- [Understanding the Role of Large Language Models in Personalizing and Scaffolding Strategies to Combat Academic Procrastination](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.13581/) (2023)
- [APTNESS: Incorporating Appraisal Theory and Emotion Support Strategies for Empathetic Response Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.21048/) (2024)
- [Understanding Users' Privacy Perceptions Towards LLM's RAG-based Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.07664/) (2025)
- [Towards AI as Colleagues: Multi-Agent System Improves Structured Ideation Processes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.23904/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Sustained emotional support is a long-horizon interaction task closely tied to human well-being. Recent research demonstrates generative agents' capacity for momentary emotional support, yet how these capabilities sustain support over time remains unclear. To examine this challenge, we deployed PAIR, a theory-based emotion-regulation companion, with 19 participants for 14 days. Across 1,093 sessions, we paired emotion estimates with self-reports before and after guidance and analyzed logs and interviews. Estimates corresponded more closely to self-reported valence and dominance than arousal. Guided conversations were followed by higher valence and state-dependent arousal changes. Participants felt understood through contextual exploration and emotional acknowledgment, acting on guidance suited to their needs and constraints. Perceived helpfulness of guided conversation significantly increased over time. Our findings link memory updates and retained corrections to cross-session personalization, informing future emotional support tools that adapt to evolving needs, learn from prior outcomes, and preserve user control over memory.