Psychometric Evaluation of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in a Clinical Sample

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Emotion regulation strategies are crucial for mental health.
• The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) is a widely used measure.
• Its psychometric properties require evaluation in diverse populations, including clinical samples.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the factor structure, reliability, and concurrent validity of the ERQ.
• To test the two-factor model (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) in a large clinical sample.
• To cross-validate the findings using subsamples.

Main Methods:

• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on a clinical sample (N=1,294).
• Model re-specification involving correlated residuals.
• Cross-validation using two randomly split subsamples (N=633, N=661).

Main Results:

• An initial two-factor model showed poor fit, but acceptable fit was achieved after re-specification.
• The refined model demonstrated acceptable fit and was replicated in the cross-validation subsample.
• Both factors (reappraisal, suppression) exhibited strong reliability and concurrent validity with related psychological measures.

Conclusions:

• The ERQ demonstrates favorable psychometric properties in a large clinical sample.
• The study supports the use of the ERQ for assessing cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in clinical settings.
• Findings contribute to the robust validation of the ERQ in diverse populations.