Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Cross-Gender Measurement Invariance in Chinese University Students

The effect of emotion regulation strategies on nomophobia in college students: The masking role of resilience

College students have a high prevalence of nomophobia. However, research on the effects of emotion regulation and resilience on nomophobia in China is lacking. This research investigated how cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies directly and indirectly affect nomophobia through resilience. Therefore, from March to May 2023, 756 university student volunteers (21.4 % men) were selected from a university in northeastern China for a questionnaire survey. Our findings suggest that college students' resilience has a masking effect on the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and nomophobia and can attenuate the negative effect of the frequency of using cognitive reappraisal strategies on nomophobia. The frequency of expressive suppression strategies directly and positively affected nomophobia. Early psychological interventions targeting resilience might be potentially effective in alleviating nomophobia among college students.

Psychometric properties and gender invariance of the 8-item emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ-8) among Chinese university students

BACKGROUND

To assess emotion regulation strategies in a clear and direct manner, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) was developed based on the process model of emotion regulation. ERQ primarily assesses an individual's propensity for reappraisal (a cognitive change in the individual's psychological state in specific situations) and expressive suppression (a regulatory response where an individual alters their emotional response after the onset of an emotional reaction). Recent studies have suggested that the abbreviated 8-item version of the ERQ exhibits comparable model fit to the original version. The present study aimed to explore the psychometric properties and assess cross-gender invariance of the ERQ-8 in Chinese university students.

METHODS

University students from Jiangsu Province participated in this study. Participants completed self-report surveys assessing emotion regulation strategies. It was conducted from May 2022 to July 2022. The study employed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess the two-factor model of ERQ-8 and measurement invariance across male and female samples.

RESULTS

The mean age of 1534 participants was 19.83 years (SD = 1.54), and the majority were female (70.4%). The initial ERQ-10 model with ten items demonstrated good fit for all indicators, CFI (Comparative Fit index) = 0.967, TLI (Tucker-Lewis Index) = 0.957, RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) = 0.043, SRMR (Standardised Root Mean Square Residual) = 0.029. However, to assess the fit of the previously proposed ERQ-8 model, two items (Q1 and Q3) were excluded. The fit of the ERQ-8 model was further improved (CFI = 0.989, TLI = 0.984, RMSEA = 0.029, SRMR = 0.021). All item loadings exceeded or were equal to 0.573. Internal consistency analysis based on the ERQ-8 model revealed Cronbach's alpha values of 0.840 for reappraisal and 0.745 for suppression, and corresponding composite reliability (CR) values of 0.846 and 0.747, respectively. Test-retest reliability, assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (95% CI) within a one-week interval, ranged from 0.537 to 0.679. The correlation coefficient between the two factors was 0.084, significantly below 0.85, which suggested a low correlation between the two factors. The results of the invariance analysis across gender demonstrated that the values of ΔCFI and ΔTLI were both below 0.01. It was supported the gender invariance of the ERQ-8 among university students.

CONCLUSION

The eight-item ERQ demonstrated validity and reliability in evaluating emotion regulation strategies, and measurement invariance was observed across gender among university students. The ERQ-8 may prove to be a practical and cost-effective tool, particularly in time-constrained situations.

A Cross-Sectional Association Between Screen-Based Sedentary Behavior and Anxiety in Academic College Students: Mediating Role of Negative Emotions and Moderating Role of Emotion Regulation

Purpose

The study aims to explore the relationship and potential mechanisms between screen time and anxiety and have a clear understanding of the role of negative emotions and emotion regulation, thus providing guidance for Chinese college students to improve mental health.

Methods

We conducted a questionnaire survey by selecting 1721 academic college students from 6 colleges and universities in 5 provinces in China, and the data were analyzed through the Process program of SPSS for mediating effect and moderating effect.

Results

There is a significant positive relationship between screen time and anxiety, negative emotions play a mediating role between the two (indirect effect = 0.32, p < 0.001), mediating effect accounts for 59.88% of the total effect, and emotion regulation regulates the direct relationship between screen time and anxiety (interaction effect = 0.027, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

This study sheds light on the potential mechanisms by which screen time affects anxiety in academic college students, providing a fresh perspective on anxiety reduction. Screen time positively affects anxiety levels, where negative emotions have a mediating role and emotion regulation has a moderating role. In the future, we can control screen ++time, increase physical activities, reduce negative emotions, and improve the emotional regulation ability to relieve anxiety, so as to improve the mental health of academic college students, and expect to have a positive impact on future learning, life, and planning.

Investigating measurement invariance of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-8 (ERQ-8) across 29 countries

The widely used Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) measures the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Recently, a more economical 8-item version of the ERQ was proposed that showed good model fit. We assessed whether the latent constructs of the ERQ-8 are generalizable across different countries and cultures. To this end, we used data from the COVIDiSTRESS survey and investigated measurement invariance of the ERQ-8 in a large sample that included 11,288 individuals from 29 countries with diverse cultural backgrounds. Our analyses revealed configural and metric invariance of the ERQ-8 in 14 countries. The results suggest that emotion regulation strategies may not readily converge across all cultures. This underscores the importance of testing measurement invariance before interpreting observed differences and similarities between countries.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-04220-6.

The development of the Chinese version of the Sports Emotional Intelligence Scale

Objective

To revise and test the Chinese version of the Sports Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) in sports situations.

Materials and methods

After pretesting 112 college students, 832 college students were formally tested, and item analysis, validity test, internal consistency reliability analysis, and calibration validity and equivalence test of the Chinese version of the SEIS were performed. The Chinese version of the SEIS had 14 items with four dimensions (evaluation of others’ emotions, self-emotional management, emotion use, and social skills), with a cumulative variance contribution of 57.812 percent; the four-factor measurement model fit well (χ2/df = 3.743, NFI = 0.917, GFI = 0.945, AFGI = 0.913, CFI = 0.926, and RMSEA = 0.062). The internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s α) of the Chinese version of the SEIS ranged from 0.824 to 0. 905, and the split-half reliability ranged from 0.807 to 0.891; the correlations between the total SEIS score and its dimensional scores and the calibration variables were significantly correlated (p &lt; 0.05), ranging from 0.255 to 0.603. The gender measure equivalence test was valid, and the mean difference of potential variables across gender groups was not significant in the potential mean analysis.

Conclusion

The Chinese version of the SEIS has good reliability and validity, and it is appropriate for assessing emotional intelligence in sports situations.

A mindfulness-based mobile health (mHealth) intervention among psychologically distressed university students in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized controlled trial

This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of a mindfulness-based mobile health (mHealth) intervention, tailored to the pandemic context, among young adult students (N = 114) with elevated anxiety and/or depressive symptoms during quarantine in China, compared to a time- and attention-matched social support-based mHealth control. At baseline, postintervention (1 month), and 2-month follow-up, participants completed self-reports of primary outcomes (anxiety and depression), secondary outcomes (mindfulness and social support), and emotional suppression as a culturally relevant mechanism of change. Feasibility and acceptability were also evaluated. Using intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis, linear mixed effects models showed that compared to social support mHealth, mindfulness mHealth had a superior effect on anxiety (p = .024, between-group d = 0.72). Both conditions improved on depression (baseline-to-FU ds > 1.10, between-group difference not significant, d = 0.36 favoring mindfulness). There was an interaction of Emotional suppression reduction × Condition in the improvement of anxiety and depression. Further, mindfulness mHealth was demonstrated to be more feasible and acceptable in program engagement, evaluation, skills improvement, and perceived benefit. Retention was high in both conditions (>80%). The difference in self-reported adverse effect was nonsignificant (3.9% in mindfulness and 8.7% in social support). Results of this pilot trial suggest that both mindfulness and social support, delivered via mHealth, show promise in reducing distress among young adults in quarantine, with mindfulness being particularly effective in addressing anxiety. Successful implementation and dissemination of this mHealth intervention approach have the potential for addressing the psychological consequences of the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA): Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance in a Chinese Student Samples

The present study aimed to examine the factor structure and measurement invariance of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for children and adolescents (ERQ-CA) in Chinese youth (N = 484, M_age = 10.43, SD_age = .88). Three versions (i.e., ERQ-CA-10, ERQ-CA-9, and ERQ-CA-8) of the ERQ-CA were tested and compared using confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance, and correlation analysis. Results showed that the eight-item version of the ERQ-CA (ERQ-CA-8) fit the data best in all conditions. However, measurement invariance across gender and after a one-year retest interval was achieved using all three versions of the measurement. The three ERQ-CA versions exhibited similar patterns of correlates with external measures (i.e., perceived parental marital conflict, r = -.17 to -.20, ps < .001, emotion expression, and callous-unemotional traits, r = -.26 to -.29, p < .001). Furthermore, the ERQ-CA-10 (i.e., the original ERQ-CA) showed better reliability than the other two versions. In conclusion, although further validity studies are needed, our findings suggest that the original ERQ-CA as well as the ERQ-CA-8 both have good psychometric properties and can be used to measure emotion regulation strategies in Chinese youth.