Investigating Psychometric Properties of Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (IERQ) in University Students

Background and purpose: One of the new areas of research in emotion regulation is interpersonal emotion regulation. This concept refers to individual’s willingness to share emotional states with others to reduce own negative emotions. This study was conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (IERQ) in students. Materials and methods: A methodological study was carried out and the research population included all student studying in Tehran state universities. A total of 602 students were selected using multistage cluster sampling. Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (IERQ), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Emotion Regulation Skills (ERSQ), Emotion Regulation of Others and Self (EROS), SCL-25 scale, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form (DER-SF) were administered. Eighty-five cases were excluded from the study and statistical analysis was performed for 517 individuals. Results: The findings showed satisfactory results for the psychometric properties of the IERQ. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the 3-factor model for this questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.90 for the whole questionnaire and 0.84, 0.82, 0.80 and 0.81 for items of enhancing positive affect, soothing, social modeling, and perspective, respectively. Conclusion: Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire has good psychometric properties and adaptation in Persian. Therefore, it can be used in future researches on emotion regulation.