Psychometri properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in a sample of Iranian population

Emotion regulation refers to the ability to understand emotions and modulate emotional experience and expressions. Emotions are managed and regulated according to processes and techniques that may be employed automatically or purposely, as well as consciously or unconsciously. The main purpose of this study was to examine psychometric properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire.Methods and Four hundred and seventy eight Iranian volunteers (22 males, 252 females) were included in this study. All participants were asked to complete the 18-item version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), and the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-28). Test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the CERQ were examined at satisfactory levels. The CERQ scales of self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing, and other-blame revealed significant positive associations with depression, anxiety, stress and psychological distress, as well as significant negative associations with psychological well-being. The remaining scales of CERQ including acceptance, positive refocusing, planning, positive reappraisal, and putting into perspective revealed significant negative associations with depression, anxiety, stress and psychological distress, as well as significant positive associations with psychological well-being. It was concluded that the 18-item version of the CERQ can be considered as a reliable and valid scale to measure cognitive coping strategies in Iranian samples.