Latent Structure and Profiles of Emotion Regulation: Reappraisal and Suppression Patterns with the Polish Version of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) is a 10-item self-report measure of two emotion regulation strategies, cognitive reappraisal (CR) and expressive suppression (ES). This study aimed to (1) examine the latent structure of the Polish version of the ERQ, and (2) use it to explore different profiles of emotion regulation strategy use and their links with mental health outcomes. Methods: Our sample was 1197 Polish-speaking adults from the general community in Poland. Results: A factor analysis showed that the ERQ had strong factorial validity, with an intended two-factor structure (CR and ES factors) that was invariant across gender, age, and education categories, as well as across different levels of psychopathology symptoms and alexithymia. Our latent profile analysis extracted four emotion regulation profiles (subtypes): a Mainly Reappraisal profile (high CR, low ES), a Mainly Suppression profile (low CR with high ES), a Generally Low Regulation profile (low CR, low ES), and a Generally High Regulation profile (high CR, high ES). People with the Mainly Reappraisal profile had the best mental health outcomes, whereas people with the Mainly Suppression profile had the poorest mental health outcomes. Conclusions: Conceptually, these findings support the process model of emotion regulation, illustrating the differential affective outcomes of various emotion regulation strategies. Our results highlight the importance of considering individual differences in strategy use patterns, including combinations of strategies within an emotion regulation profile. The Polish version of the ERQ appears to be a robust measure of these key emotion regulation processes across a variety of demographic groups. To facilitate its use, including score interpretations in clinical practice, we present Polish percentile rank norms for the ERQ.