Faculty Collaboration Database

Confirmatory factor and measurement invariance analyses of the emotion regulation questionnaire. J Clin Psychol 2011 Dec;67(12):1283-93

Date

09/20/2011

Pubmed ID

21928369

DOI

10.1002/jclp.20836

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-81855182169 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   97 Citations

Abstract

Emotion regulation is widely studied in many areas of psychology and the number of publications on emotion regulation has increased exponentially over the past few decades. Additionally, interest in the relationships between emotion dysregulation processes and psychopathology has drastically increased in recent years. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) was developed to measure two specific constructs related to emotion control: reappraisal and suppression (Gross & John, 2003). In its initial validation study and subsequent analyses, the instrument was shown to possess sound psychometric properties, but, to date, inquiry regarding the measure's characteristics has been limited. Factor analytic examinations of commonly used instruments are recommended to validate the properties of a given measure and increase researchers understanding of the measured constructs. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the ERQ in a sample of 1,188 undergraduates through confirmatory factor analysis. Additionally, tests of measurement invariance were employed in order to examine potential structural differences based on gender and ethnicity. The current study supported the original structure of the measure with all demographic groups and exceptional fit was demonstrated. Additional normative data for gender and ethnic groups are included. Results support the use of the instrument in future research.

Author List

Melka SE, Lancaster SL, Bryant AR, Rodriguez BF

Author

Stephen E. Melka PhD Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Emotions
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Midwestern United States
Psychological Tests
Psychometrics
Reference Values
Reproducibility of Results
Sex Factors
Social Control, Informal