The Emotion Regulation Flexibility Questionnaire: A Rasch-Validated Version for Children

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Child Psychology

Background:

• Emotion regulation flexibility (ERF) is crucial for emotional intelligence and social functioning.
• ERF has been understudied in youth due to a lack of suitable measurement tools.
• Understanding children's perception of ERF is vital for developmental research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt an adult emotion regulation flexibility scale for children.
• To propose and validate the 10-item Emotion Regulation Flexibility Questionnaire for Children (ERFQ-C).
• To examine the relationship between perceived ERF, emotion malleability, and school well-being in children.

Main Methods:

• Adapted an adult ERF scale into the ERFQ-C for children aged 9-12.
• Collected data from 346 children using the ERFQ-C, emotion malleability, and school well-being questionnaires.
• Utilized Rasch modeling to analyze scale structure and invariance, followed by path analyses.

Main Results:

• The ERFQ-C demonstrated a unidimensional structure and measurement invariance across sex and school levels.
• The scale fit the Rasch model, allowing for conversion of item scores to Rasch scores.
• Path analyses revealed that emotion malleability positively predicted ERF perception, which in turn positively predicted school-related well-being.

Conclusions:

• The ERFQ-C is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring children's perceived emotion regulation flexibility.
• Perceived ERF in children is linked to greater emotion malleability and improved school well-being.
• The ERFQ-C can facilitate future research on ERF in youth and inform targeted interventions.