Assessing Emotion Regulation Difficulties Across Negative and Positive Emotions: Psychometric Properties and Clinical Applications of the Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory in the Chinese Context

Lin Zhu,1 Qian Zhang,1 Ke Ni,2 Xue-Jun Yang,1 Kai Jin,3 Wei Wei,4– 6 David A Preece,7,8 Bao-Ming Li,1,9 Xin-Lu Cai1,9 1Institute of Brain Science and Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Qiqihar Mental Health Center, Qiqihar, People’s Republic of China; 3The Fifth People’s Hospital of Lin’an District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Neurobiology, Affiliated Mental Health Center & Hangzhou Seventh People’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-Machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 6NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 7School of Population Health and Curtin enAble Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia; 8School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia; 9Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xin-Lu Cai, Institute of Brain Science and Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 571-28864320, Email caixinlu@hznu.edu.cnBackground: Abnormalities of regulating positive and negative emotion have been documented in patients with mental disorders. Valid and reliable psychological instruments for measuring emotion regulation across different valences are needed. The Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory (PERCI) is a 32-item self-report measure recently developed to compressively assess emotion regulation ability across both positive and negative valences.Purpose: This study aimed to validate the Chinese PERCI in a large non-clinical sample and examine the clinical utility in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).Methods: The Chinese PERCI was administered to 1090 Chinese participants (mean age = 20.64 years, 773 females). The factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, concurrent validity, and predictive validity were examined. Moreover, a MDD group (n = 50) and a matched healthy control group (n = 50) were recruited. Group comparisons and the linear discriminant analysis were conducted to assess the clinical relevance of the PERCI.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the intended eight-factor structure of the PERCI in the Chinese population. The PERCI showed high internal consistency, test-retest reliability, as well as good convergent and concurrent validity. The MDD group had significantly higher PERCI scores than the healthy control group. Linear discriminant function comprised of the eight factors successfully distinguish patients with MDD from their matched controls.Conclusion: The Chinese version of the PERCI is a valid and reliable instrument to compressively measure emotion regulation across positive and negative valences in the general Chinese population and patients with depression.Plain Language Summary: The Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory was designed to comprehensively assess emotion regulation ability across both positive and negative valences. This study provided the first translation and psychometric evaluation of the PERCI in the Chinese context. The findings support that the Chinese version of the PERCI is a reliable and valid measurement for assessing emotion regulation across positive and negative valences in research and clinical practice.Keywords: emotion regulation, reliability, validity, factor structure, depression