The Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire: Development, psychometric properties and relationships with emotional problems and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

Abstract

A new questionnaire, the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (BERQ) was developed. This questionnaire consists of 5 scales and assesses one's behavioral style or strategies of responding to stressful events to regulate emotions. It is the first questionnaire that measures behavioral coping only and complements the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) which measures cognitive coping. In a sample of 457 adults from the general population the psychometric properties of the BERQ (measuring dispositional coping) and its relationship with well-being and the CERQ were examined. Principal component analyses supported the allocation of items to the subscales, with alphas of all scales being high. All BERQ scales correlated significantly with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Higher use of Seeking Distraction, Actively Approaching and Seeking Social Support was related to fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, suggesting these are more adaptive strategies. Higher use of Withdrawal and Ignoring was related to more depression and anxiety symptoms, suggesting these are less adaptive strategies. The BERQ and CERQ scales were mainly small to moderately correlated with each other. The results suggest that it is important to pay attention to behavioral coping in the development of intervention programs for mental health problems.