The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short Form (ERQ-S): A 6-item measure of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression

Background: Emotion regulation plays a crucial role in affective functioning. One of the most commonly used measures of emotion regulation is the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), a 10-item self-report measure assessing frequency of use of two common emotion regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. In this study, we aimed to optimize the utility of the ERQ for time-pressured settings by introducing and validating a 6-item short form called the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short Form (ERQ-S). Method: General community (N = 508) and college student (N = 245) samples from the United States completed online surveys containing a range of psychometric self-report measures. For each sample, we examined the factor structure, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of the ERQ-S. Results: Our confirmatory factor analyses supported the intended 2-factor structure of the ERQ-S (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression factors), with all items loading well on their intended factor in both samples. As expected, the ERQ-S correlated highly with the ERQ. A profile of low cognitive reappraisal use and high expressive suppression use on the ERQ-S was significantly associated with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties, alexithymia, and affective symptoms. Limitations: We did not examine psychometric performance in a clinical sample, or other cultural groups outside the US. All concurrent validity markers were self-report questionnaires. Conclusions: Our data suggest that the ERQ-S successfully retains the psychometric strengths of the ERQ. The shorter format of the ERQ-S should therefore help to optimize the measurement of emotion regulation in time pressured settings.

Automated summary

This study aimed to optimize the utility of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) by introducing and validating a 6-item short form called the ERQ-S. Results from online surveys of 508 community members and 245 college students showed that the ERQ-S had a 2-factor structure and high correlation with the original ERQ. The shorter format of the ERQ-S retains the psychometric strengths of the ERQ.