Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire-short (CERQ-P-short): Reliability, validity, factor structure, treatment sensitivity, and measurement invariance

Aims: This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a widely -used measure of emotion regulation, the short version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-short), in the Persian language (CERQ-P-short) among Iranian populations. Methods: The CERQ-P-short was administered to 1825 participants (female = 974) including 436 adolescents, 834 adults from the general population, 45 patients each with generalized anxiety and obsessive -compulsive disorders, an additional 30 patients each with generalized anxiety and obsessive -compulsive disorders receiving treatment, 45 patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) and an additional 360 adult psychiatric patients. We tested reliability, factor structure, measurement invariance, convergent and discriminant validity, and treatment sensitivity (i.e., intervention response) by age, sex, and diagnostic group. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale -21 was also administered. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient and test -retest coefficients suggested good reliability. Fit indices suggested that the 9 -factor CERQ-P-Short model was good across groups. The CERQ-P-Short showed good measurement invariance in all four models (configural, metric, scalar, and strict) in all groups. Both adaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion -regulation strategies demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, treatment sensitivity of the CERQ-P-Short scale before and after the completion of treatment sessions was suggested for patients with generalized anxiety and obsessive -compulsive disorders. Conclusions: While the present study has some limitations, it represents a significant contribution because it supports CERQ-P-Short scales usefulness, validity, and reliability in the general population and among psychiatric patients. The results of the current study can be beneficial to the both clinicians and researchers.