Confirmatory factor analysis of a Portuguese short version of the cognitive emotional regulation scale

Introduction The cognitive emotions regulation questionnaire (CERQ) is a 36-item questionnaire to measures specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies used in response to the experience of threatening or stressful life events. The Portuguese version of CERQ proved to be a reliable and valid measure to evaluate eight dimensions: Positive reappraisal and planning, positive refocusing, rumination, blaming others, putting into perspective and self-blame. Objective To confirm the dimensional structure of a Portuguese short version of the CERQ using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Method Items selection was based on the previous results of the exploratory factor analysis of the 36-items version. Items presenting the highest loading (≥ 70) in their respective factor were selected. A preliminary short version composed of 22 items were answered by a sample of 480 university students (81.9% females), with a mean age of 19.49 years (SD = 2.047; range = 17–30). CFA (using Mplus software) was used to test if the eight dimensions’ model suggested by prior exploratory factor analyses fitted the data. Results The eight dimensions’ model has a good fit (χ2 =  424.015, P . 01; RMSEA = 0.056, 90%CI =  0.049–0.063; CFI = 0.930; TLI = 0.910; SRMR = 0.051). Although composed of fewer numbers of items, all subscales presented good reliability (Cronbach alpha Conclusions The CERQ-22 is a reliable and valid measure to evaluate cognitive emotion regulation strategies in young adults. Being a shorter version it is particularly useful for multivariate and prospective studies. In the near future we will test this structure in a clinical sample.