Assessing Psychometric Properties of the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in an Iranian Population

Background: The Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (BERQ) has been designed to assess the adaptive and maladaptive strategies for emotion regulation. Objectives: The current investigation aimed to study the psychometric properties of the BERQ in a sample of Iranian students. Methods: To assess the psychometric properties of the BERQ (2020 - 2021), 301 students (150 males and 151 females) at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS) were selected using convenience sampling. In addition to the BERQ, the participants completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS). Afterward, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, convergent and divergent validity, and confirmatory factor analysis were calculated and applied using LISREL V 8.80 and SPSS V 20. Results: The results of factor analysis supported the five-factor structure of the BERQ (including seeking distraction, seeking social support, actively approaching, withdrawal, and ignoring) in the Iranian student sample (RMSEA = 0.08, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.90, normed fit index (NFI) = 0.90). Furthermore, the positive subscales of the BERQ were significantly and positively correlated with the positive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the CERQ. They also had a significant negative correlation with depression, anxiety, stress, and worry. Moreover, withdrawal and ignoring were significantly and positively correlated with anxiety, stress, worry, depression, and negative emotion regulation strategies of the CERQ (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The Persian version of the BERQ has suitable psychometric properties. This questionnaire could be utilized for assessing the healthy and unhealthy reactions of individuals.