The Emotion Regulation Goals Scale: Advancing its psychometric properties using item response theory analysis

Emotion goals are considered paramount for influencing the initiation, maintenance, and cessation of emotion regulation. Recently, some authors developed an instrument to assess emotion goals-the Emotion Regulation Goals Scale (ERGS).

This study included two studies aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the ERGS in two Portuguese samples: 400 adults from the community (76% women; M age = 37.10) (Study 1) and 205 university students (80% women; M age = 21.72) (Study 2).

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory (IRT) analysis were used to examine the psychometric properties of the ERGS in the two samples. The CFA confirmed the five-factor structure of the 18-item ERGS, but the analyses of both studies suggested the elimination of two items given their lower loadings/low discrimination.

A five-factor structure with 16 items was proposed, with good reliability and with evidence of construct validity with relevant constructs.