A systematic review of emotion regulation measurement in children and adolescents diagnosed with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Emotion regulation is a challenge for many, in particular children with intellectual disabilities. To support understanding and the development of interventions in this area it is essential to identify valid and reliable measures. Method: This systematic review aimed to identify measures that assess all five emotion regulation domains as described by the process model of emotion regulation; situation selection, situation modification, attention deployment, cognitive control, and response modulation. The validity and reliability of these measures was determined by the COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist. Results: Of the 10 measures identified, only the Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Scale possessed moderate levels of evidence. However, this measure does not assess all five domains of emotion regulation. Conclusions: Future research would benefit from the development of both informant and self-report measures for children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities, that assess all the five domains of emotion regulation.