Psychometric properties of interpersonal emotion regulation questionnaire in nonclinical and clinical population in Iran

Interpersonal Emotion regulation has become an important research topic in emotional studies. In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the interpersonal emotion regulation questionnaire (IERQ) in the nonclinical and clinical populations. Data were drawn from two studies. One study was conducted in a general population (N = 428) and the other in a clinical setting with individuals diagnosed with emotional disorders (N = 220). To assess the convergent validity of IERQ in the first study, questionnaires assessing emotion regulation, anxiety, depression, attachment style, and emotional intelligence were also conducted. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) results showed that the four-factor model of the IERQ fit the data in the nonclinical sample and emotional disorders sample well. The IERQ questionnaire showed excellent internal consistency for all subscales in the nonclinical and clinical samples. Test-retest reliability analysis also showed high levels of test-retest reliability in the nonclinical sample. The convergent validity results demonstrated the significant relationship of IERQ with almost all measures assessing emotion regulation, anxiety, depression, attachment style, and emotional intelligence. Findings of discriminant validity showed significant differences between the clinical and nonclinical population in subscales of IERQ, but there are not any significant differences between clinical groups in these subscales. The convenience sampling method was used for the first sample, and some measures could not be used in the clinical samples, and some analyses could not be conducted in this sample. Furthermore, limited emotional disorder diagnostics were included in the clinical sample, and a large number of disorders were not considered. Thus, the generalizability of our findings is limited. Overall, the current study provided evidence supporting the reliability and validity of IERQ in the Iranian community and emotional disorders samples and pave the way for further cross-cultural research on IER.