Development of Computerized Adaptive Testing for Emotion Regulation.

Area of Science:

• Psychological Assessment
• Psychometrics
• Mental Well-being

Background:

• Emotion regulation (ER) is crucial for individual well-being and functioning.
• Efficient and accurate assessment of ER is needed.
• Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) offers a promising approach for efficient psychological measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) system for evaluating emotion regulation (ER).
• To create an efficient tool (CAT-ER) that minimizes assessment time and item count while maintaining accuracy.
• To validate the psychometric properties of the developed CAT-ER system.

Main Methods:

• Development of an initial item bank (154 items) from six established ER scales.
• Data collection from 887 participants in China.
• Application of item response theory (IRT) for item analysis, including unidimensionality, model selection, local independence, item fit, differential item functioning (DIF), and discrimination.
• Selection of 63 items with strong psychometric properties for the final CAT-ER.
• Conducting two CAT simulation studies to evaluate CAT-ER performance.

Main Results:

• A final item bank of 63 items with good psychometric properties was established.
• The CAT-ER system demonstrated reasonable performance in simulation studies.
• The CAT-ER significantly reduced the number of test items and assessment time compared to traditional methods.
• Measurement accuracy was maintained despite the reduction in items and time.

Conclusions:

• The developed CAT-ER is a psychometrically sound and efficient tool for assessing emotion regulation.
• CAT-ER offers a valuable alternative for measuring ER, enhancing user experience and resource efficiency.
• This adaptive testing approach holds potential for broader applications in psychological assessment.