Validating the Negative Emotion Regulation Inventory Measure of Emotion Regulation for Children in Preadolescence

Abstract

Emotion modulation is achieved through various strategies. We further validated a measure of emotion regulation (ER), the Negative Emotion Regulation Inventory (NERI), designed by Zimmermann and Iwanski (2014) to assess emotions and ER strategies in situations intended to induce sadness, fear, or anger. U.S. children 9–14 years old ( n = 105) completed an adapted version of the NERI and measures of anxiety symptoms and attachment security. We replicated Zimmermann and Iwanski’s (2014) finding that ER strategies (adaptive regulation, social support seeking, dysfunctional rumination, expressive suppression) varied by emotion situation. We extended their study by showing that specific ER strategies were related to both anxiety symptoms and secure parent-child attachment. This cross-cultural replication and extension study provided some evidence for the reliability and validity of the adapted NERI in U.S. preadolescents.