Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for use with athletes

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.05.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

Three studies examine the factorial validity, internal consistency, test–retest stability, and criterion validity of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ: Gross & John, 2003) for use with athletes.

Design

Factorial validity, internal consistency, test–retest stability and criterion validity of the ERQ were examined over three stages, using three separate samples.

Method

In stage 1 the factorial validity and internal consistency of the ERQ subscales were examined based on responses from 433 sport participants. In stage 2, 176 sport participants completed the ERQ on two occasions separated by an interval of two weeks. In stage 3, the criterion validity of the ERQ was examined. Sport participants (n = 88) completed the ERQ and reported the intensity, frequency and direction of a range of emotions experienced when competing in sport.

Results

Confirmatory factor analysis results lend some support to a two-factor model when reappraisal and suppression are allowed to correlate. Alpha coefficients were acceptable. Test–retest stability analyses indicated poor agreement and a greater influence of situational, as opposed to trait factors, in the variance of item scores on the second test administration. In addition, results were partially consistent with findings of Gross and John (2003): reappraisal scores were associated with pleasant emotions, but suppression scores were not associated with unpleasant emotions.

Conclusion

Results provide mixed support for the validity of the ERQ in sport. Because the ERQ is intended to assess stable patterns of emotion regulation, the instability of items is a concern and reasons for this require further investigation.

Highlights

► The validity of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) is explored among athletes. ► The ERQ assesses individuals' use of reappraisal and suppression to manage emotion. ► Consistency, stability, factorial and predictive validity of the ERQ are examined. ► The validity of the ERQ is generally supported, but scores are unstable over time. ► The ERQ is a valid measure of athletes' use of reappraisal and suppression.

Section snippets

Stage 1: factorial validity and internal consistency of ERQ in an athlete sample

The first stage of examining the validity of the ERQ for use with a sport population was to examine the factorial validity and internal consistency of the scale, which is an important pre-requisite to the use of a scale in a new population (Comrey, 1988).

Stage 2: test–retest stability of the ERQ in an athlete population

This stage of the study examined the stability of the items of the ERQ for use with an athlete population.

Stage 3: criterion validity of the ERQ

This stage of the study assessed the extent to which reappraisal and suppression was related to the experience of pleasant and unpleasant emotions experienced by athletes. A strength of Gross and John's (2003) research is that studies employing the ERQ have shown that individual differences in emotion regulation are associated with varying social and affective consequences. For example, reappraisal has been found to be associated with positive affect when assessed using the Positive and

General discussion

The ERQ is a widely used measure that has been used in over 200 publications and has been translated into 21 different languages (see http://spl.stanford.edu/resources.html). This study reports 3 stages in examining the applicability of the ERQ for use with a sport population. The first stage suggested that the ERQ possessed adequate internal consistency and factorial validity in a sample of sport participants, paralleling the observations of Gross and John (2003). However, in contrast to the

References (81)

  • P.M. Bentler

    EQS structural equation program manual

    (1995)
  • P.M. Bentler et al.

    EQS/Windows user's guide

    (1995)
  • P.M. Bentler et al.

    EQS for Windows user's guide

    (2002)
  • S.J.H. Biddle et al.

    Research methods in sport and exercise psychology: quantitative and qualitative issues

    Journal of Sports Sciences

    (2001)
  • J.M. Bland et al.

    Measuring agreement in methods comparison studies

    Statistical Methods in Medical Research

    (1999)
  • M.W. Browne et al.

    Alternative ways of assessing model fit

  • B.M. Byrne

    A primer of Lisrel: Basic applications programming for confirmatory factor analytic models

    (1989)
  • J. Cohen

    A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales

    Educational and Psychological Measurement

    (1960)
  • A.L. Comrey

    Factor-analytic methods of scale development in personality and social psychology

    Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

    (1988)
  • P. Cramer

    Defence mechanisms in psychology today: further processes for adaptation

    American Psychologist

    (2000)
  • P.R.E. Crocker et al.

    Measurement of coping strategies in sport

  • L.J. Cronbach

    Coefficient alpha and internal structure of tests

    Psychometrika

    (1951)
  • L.J. Cronbach et al.

    Construct validity in psychological tests

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1955)
  • B. Egloff et al.

    Facets of dynamic positive affect: differentiating joy, interest, and activation in the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (2003)
  • A.P. Field

    Discovering statistics using SPSS: And sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll

    (2005)
  • B.L. Frederickson

    The role of positive emotions in positive psychology

    American Psychologist

    (2001)
  • N.R. Giuliani et al.

    The up- and down-regulation of amusement: experiential, behavioral and autonomic consequences

    Emotion

    (2008)
  • D. Gould et al.

    Psychological preparation for the Olympic Games

    Journal of Sports Sciences

    (2009)
  • J.J. Gross

    The emerging field of emotion regulation: an integrative review

    Review of General Psychology

    (1998)
  • J.J. Gross

    Emotion regulation: past, present, future

    Cognition & Emotion

    (1999)
  • J.J. Gross

    Emotion regulation

  • J.J. Gross et al.

    Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: implications for affect, relationships, and well-being

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (2003)
  • J.J. Gross et al.

    Emotion regulation: conceptual foundations

  • J.F. Hair et al.

    Multivariate data analysis

    (1998)
  • Y.L. Hanin

    Emotions in sport

    (2000)
  • R.H. Hoyle et al.

    Writing about structural equation models

  • L. Hu et al.

    Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives

    Structural Equation Modelling

    (1999)
  • O.P. John et al.

    Individual differences in emotion regulation strategies: links to global trait, dynamic, and social cognitive constructs

  • M. Jokela et al.

    Does the individual zones of optimal functioning model discriminate between successful and less successful athletes? A meta-analysis

    Journal of Sports Sciences

    (1999)
  • M.V. Jones

    Controlling emotions in sport

    The Sport Psychologist

    (2003)

    • Cited by (45)

    • Perceived motivational climate influences athletes’ emotion regulation strategies, emotions, and psychobiosocial experiences

      2022, Psychology of Sport and Exercise
      Citation Excerpt :

      Ratings were provided on a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much). In a sample of British athletes, α coefficients were .82 for reappraisal and .70 for suppression (Uphill et al., 2012). The Sport Emotion Questionnaire (SEQ).

    • The effect of self- and interpersonal emotion regulation on athletes’ anxiety and goal achievement in competition

      2021, Psychology of Sport and Exercise
      Citation Excerpt :

      First, given the direct associations between emotional self-regulation and goal achievement were more substantial than the association between anxiety during competition and goal achievement, emotion regulation dimensions were specified as outcomes of anxiety and as immediate predictors of goal achievement (see Figs. 2 and 3). This was deemed appropriate given the possibility that emotion regulation is an antecedent and an outcome of felt emotions (Uphill et al., 2012; Uphill & Jones, 2011). Second, because pre-competition anxiety appeared to explain substantial variance in anxiety during competition, in these post hoc analyses we tested anxiety before and during competition separately (Figs. 2 and 3).

    • COMPETITIVE ANXIETY IN ATHLETES: EMOTION REGULATION AND PERSONALITY MATTER

      2023, Kinesiology

    • Promoting Athlete Mental Health: The Role of Emotion Regulation

      2023, Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology

    • Assessing Decentering Capacity in Athletes: A Moderated Mediation Model

      2023, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

    • Psychometric Support for a Japanese Version of the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire

      2023, Perceptual and Motor Skills
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text
    Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.