Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to validate a Spanish version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-S), originally developed by Garnefski, Kraaij, and Spinhoven. To date, it is the only available instrument that permits a conceptually pure quantification of cognitive strategies of emotional regulation. A sample of 615 students (25% men; 75% women) completed the CERQ-S. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that, as in the original version, a nine-factor model also explained the data collected with the Spanish version. However, an alternative model that integrates the nine dimensions in two second-order factors shows appropriate global fit indices and has interesting implications. Likewise, the results of the present study are comparable with those obtained in previous work with measures of depression, anxiety, and anger, and increase support for the validity of this instrument for assessing normalized affective states.