The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ): The Evaluation of Structural and Convergent Validity on a Serbian Sample

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5937/psistra0-52047
Keywords: Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, latent structure, Serbian translation

Abstract


The current research is aimed at examining the psychometric properties, i.e. the structural and convergent validity of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) translated into Serbian through two independent and consequent studies. In Study 1, conducted on the sample of 674 young adults (Mage = 19.68, SD = 1.29), the structural validity of the CERQ was evaluated by testing the theoretically based nine-component structure using the methods of confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modelling. Study 2 was aimed at retesting the model obtained in the previous study on the sample of 703 participants (Mage = 22.96, SD = 7.05). In addition, convergent validity of the CERQ was examined by the correlation with the measures of positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and general distress. The results support the CERQ as a reliable and valid measure of the cognitive emotion regulation strategies. The latent structure of the questionnaire is best described by a nine-factor model defined by the original instrument. In both of our samples, the dimension of Positive reformulation has demonstrated the same structural specificities, suggesting the need for additional checking of both the instrument itself and the specificities of the cognitive emotion regulation strategies in our cultural area. The findings of these studies also indicate usefulness of exploratory structural equation modelling compared to the traditional methods of confirmatory factor analysis in the investigation of the latent structure of the CERQ.

References

Abdi, S., Taban, S., & Ghaemian, A. (2012). Cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire: Validity and reliability of Persian translation of CERQ-36 item. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 32, 2–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.001

Aldao, A., Gee, D. G., De Los Reyes, A., & Seager, I. (2016). Emotion regulation as a transdiagnostic factor in the development of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology: Current and future directions. Development and Psychopathology, 28(4), 927–946. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579416000638

Aldao, A., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2010). Specificity of cognitive emotion regulation strategies: A transdiagnostic examination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48(10), 974–983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2010.06.002

Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. (2009). Exploratory structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 16(3), 397–438. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510903008204

Boon, A. E, & Hauber, K. (2022). Cognitive emotion regulation strategies in relation to treatment outcome in a clinical sample of adolescents with personality disorders. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 29(6), 1897–1904. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2758

Brauer, K., Ranger, J., & Ziegler, M. (2023). Confirmatory factor analyses in psychological test adaptation and development: A nontechnical discussion of the WLSMV estimator [Editorial]. Psychological Test Adaptation and Development, 4(1), 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1027/2698-1866/a000034

Chamizo-Nieto, M. T., Rey, L., & Sánchez-Álvarez, N. (2020). Validation of the spanish version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in adolescents. Psicothema, 32(1), 153-159. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2019.156

Čačić, S., i Gavrilov-Jerković, V. (2013). Kognitivno-afektivni regulatorni mehanizmi kao medijatori između dimenzija afektivne vezanosti i depresije. Primenjena psihologija, 6(4), 385–405. https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.2013.4.385-405

Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13

Domínguez-Sánchez, F. J., Lasa-Aristu, A., Amor, P. J., & Holgado-Tello, F. P. (2013). Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Assessment, 20, 253–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191110397274

Feliu-Soler, A., Reche-Camba, E., Borràs, X., Pérez-Aranda, A., Andrés-Rodríguez, L., Peñarrubia-María, M. T., Navarro-Gil, M., García-Campayo, J., Bellón, J. A., & Luciano, J. V. (2017). Psychometric Properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02075

Garnefski, N., & Kraaij, V. (2006a). Cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire - development of a short 18-item version (CERQ-short). Personality and Individual Differences, 41(6), 1045–1053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.04.010

Garnefski, N., & Kraaij, V. (2006b). Relationships between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: A comparative study of five specific samples. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(8), 1659–1669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.12.009

Garnefski, N., & Kraaij, V. (2007). The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire: Psychometric features and prospective relationships with depression and anxiety in adults. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 23(3), 141–149. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.23.3.141

Garnefski, N., & Kraaij, V. (2018). Specificity of relations between adolescents' cognitive emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Cognition and Emotions, 32(7), 1401–1408. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2016.1232698

Garnefski, N., Boon, S., & Kraaij, V. (2003). Relationships between cognitive strategies of adolescents and depressive symptomatology across different types of life event. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(6), 401–408. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025994200559

Garnefski, N., Kraaij, V., & Spinhoven, P. (2001). Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation and emotional problems. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(8), 1311–1327. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00113-6

Garnefski, N., Van Den Kommer, T., Kraaij, V., Teerds, J., Legerstee, J., & Onstein, E. (2002). The relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and emotional problems: Comparison between a clinical and a non‐clinical sample. European Journal of Personality, 16(5), 403–420. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.458

Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of Emotion Regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271

Gross, J. J. (2008). Emotion Regulation. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland–Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (3rd ed., pp. 497–512). New York: The Guilford Press.

Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348

Hasani, J. (2010). The Psychometric Properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2(3), 73–84. https://doi.org/10.22075/jcp.2017.2031

Hu, L.-t., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

Ireland, M. J., Clough, B. A., & Day, J. J. (2017). The cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire: Factorial, convergent, and criterion validity analyses of the full and short versions. Personality and Individual Differences, 110, 90–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.01.035

Jermann, F., Van der Linden, M., d’Acremont, M., & Zermatten, A. (2006). Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 22(2), 126–131. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.22.2.126

John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72(6), 1301–1334. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00298.x

Kline, R. B. (2016). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (4th ed.). Guilford Press.

Koole, S. L. (2009). The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Cognition and Emotion, 23(1), 4–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930802619031

Kovač, A., Tovilović, S., Bugarski Ignjatović, V., Popović Petrović, S., & Tatić, M. (2020). The role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in health related quality of life of breast cancer patients. Vojnosanitetski pregled, 77(10), 1032–1040. https://doi.org/10.2298/VSP180205178K

Kraaij, V., Garnefski, N., de Wilde, E. J., Dijkstra, A., Gebhardt, W., Maes, S., & ter Doest, L. (2003). Negative life events and depressive symptoms in late adolescence: Bonding and cognitive coping as vulnerability factors? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(3), 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022543419747

Kumpfer, K. L. (1999). Factors and processes contributing to resilience: the resilience framework. In: M. D. Glantz & J. L. Johnson (Eds.). Resiliency and Development: Positive Life Adaptations. p. 179–224. New York, NY: Kluwer.

Loch, N., Hiller, W., & Witthöft, M. (2011). Der Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). Erste teststatistische Überprüfung einer deutschen Adaption. Zeitschrift für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie: Forschung und Praxis, 40(2), 94–106. https://doi.org/10.1026/1616-3443/a000079

Lovibond, P. F., & Lovibond, S. H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33(3), 335–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(94)00075-U

Martin, R. C., & Dahlen, E. R. (2005). Cognitive emotion regulation in the prediction of depression, anxiety, stress, and anger. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(7), 1249–1260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.06.004

Marsh, H. W., Morin, A. J. S., Parker, P. D., & Kaur, G. (2014). Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling: An Integration of the Best Features of Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 10(1), 85–110. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032813-153700

McKinnon, A., Kuyken, W., Hayes, R., Werner-Seidler, A., Watson, P., Dalgleish, T., & Schweizer, S. (2020). The psychometric properties of the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire (CERQ) in a clinical sample of adults with recurrent depression. Journal of Affective Disorder, 276, 212-219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.061

Megreya, A. M., Latzman, R. D., Al-Attiyah, A. A., & Alrashidi, M. (2016). The Robustness of the Nine-Factor Structure of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire across Four Arabic-Speaking Middle Eastern Countries. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47(6), 875–890. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022116644785

Mihić, L., Novović, Z., Čolović, P., & Smederevac, S. (2014). Serbian adaptation of the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS): Its facets and second-order structure. Psihologija, 47(4), 393–414. https://doi.org/10.2298/psi1404393m

Miklósi, M., Martos, T., Kocsis-Bogár, K., & Perczel Forintos, D. (2011). A Kognitív Érzelem-Reguláció Kérdőív magyar változatának pszichometriai jellemzői. Psychiatria Hungarica, 26(2), 102–111.

Morin, A. J. S. (2023). Exploratory structural equation modeling. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Handbook of Structural Equation Modeling (2nd ed., pp. 503–524). Guilford.

Muthén, L.K. and Muthén, B.O. (1998-2012). Mplus User’s Guide. Seventh Edition. Muthén & Muthén

Popov, S. (2010). Relacije kognitivno emocionalne regulacije, ličnosti i afektiviteta. Primenjena psihologija, 3(1), 59–76.

Riediger, M., & Klipker, K. (2014). Emotion regulation in adolescence. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (2nd ed., pp. 187–202). New York: The Guilford Press.

Rice, K., Larsen, S. A., Sharp, S., & Rock, A. J. (2022). Factorial and construct validity of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) in an Australian sample. Australian Psychologist, 57(6), 338–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/00050067.2022.2125280

Rodriguez, A., Reise, S. P., & Haviland, M. G. (2016). Applying Bifactor Statistical Indices in the Evaluation of Psychological Measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 98(3), 223–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2015.1089249

Schäfer, J. Ö., Naumann, E., Holmes, E. A., Tuschen-Caffier, B., & Samson, A. C. (2017). Emotion regulation strategies in depressive and anxiety symptoms in youth: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescents 46(2), 261–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0585-0

Tuna, E., & Bozo, Ö. (2012). The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire: Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Turkish version. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 34, 564–570. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-012-9303-8

Wante, L., Van Beveren, M. L., Theuwis, L., & Braet, C. (2018). The effects of emotion regulation strategies on positive and negative affect in early adolescents. Cognition & emotion, 32(5), 988–1002. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2017.1374242

van Zyl, L. E., & ten Klooster, P. M. (2022). Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling: Practical Guidelines and Tutorial With a Convenient Online Tool for Mplus. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.795672

Wallace, G. T., Barrett, K. C., Henry, K. L., Prince, M. A., & Conner, B. T. (2023). Examining underlying structures of cognitive emotion regulation strategies using exploratory structural equation modeling. Quality & Quantity, 57, 4171–4192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01531-5

Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063

Zhu, X., Auerbach, R. P., Yao, S., Abela, J. R. Z., Xiao, J., & Tong, X. (2008). Psychometric properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire: Chinese version. Cognition and Emotion, 22, 288–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930701369035

Žuljević, D., Radović, D., i Gavrilov-Jerković, V. (2013). Psihometrijska provera i validacija Upitnika afektivnih stilova na srpskom uzorku. Primenjena psihologija, 6(1), 45–65.

Published
2025/06/30
Issue
Vol. 28 No. 1 (2025): Psihološka istraživanja vol. 28, br. 1, 2025
Section
Scientific Articles

Authors retain the copyright of the published papers and grant to the publisher the nonexclusive right to publish the article, to be cited as its original publisher in case of re-use, and to distribute it in all forms and media. The published articles will be distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA). It is allowed to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and remix, transform and build upon it for any purpose, even commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given to the original
author(s), a link to the license is provided, it is indicated if changes were made and the new work is distributed under the same license as the original. Authors are permitted to deposit the author’s publisher’s version (PDF) of their work in an institutional repository, subject-based repository, author’s personal website (including social networking sites, such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, etc.), and/or departmental website at any time after publication, with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.