The aim of the present study was to adapt the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire to the Romanian population and assess its psychometric proprieties. Participants included 399 adults, aged between 18 and 67 years old (M = 25.30, SD = 9.20; 83% females). Related to reliability and construct validity, results showed good indices. Additionally, results replicated the original five-factor structure, including seeking distraction, withdrawal, actively approaching, seeking social support and ignoring. These subscales showed good criterion validity, having significant associations with cognitive emotion regulation strategies, stress, anxiety and depression, and positive and negative affectivity. Furthermore, in terms of predictive validity, seeking distraction and actively approaching negatively predicted six months later symptoms of depression, withdrawal positively predicted six months later symptoms of depression and anxiety, while actively approaching negatively predicted six months later stress. These findings highlight that the Romanian version of the BERQ could be a helpful tool to assess emotion regulation strategies among adults.
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To date, research has shown that emotion regulation and coping play a vital role in human healthy adaptation to adverse life experiences. However, on the one hand researchers tended to focus on what people think after or during experiencing stressful events in order to regulate their emotions. The other approach is related to developing measures where the included strategies could be carried out through both cognitive and behavioral channels (Garnefski et al., 2001). Recently, Kraaij and Garnefski (2019) developed a new measure, namely the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (BERQ), with the aim of assessing how people are responding at a behavioral level to threatening or stressful life events. The BERQ is the first questionnaire that assesses behavioral emotion regulation and complements the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ; Garnefski et al., 2001), a questionnaire which assesses exclusively cognitive emotion regulation. In Romania, researchers and clinicians predominantly utilize the validated version of the CERQ (Perte & Miclea, 2011). However, while the CERQ boasts robust psychometric properties and offers insights into the connections between cognitive emotion regulation and various aspects of mental health, it leaves unexplored the link between behavioral emotion regulation and psychopathology. Therefore, to address this gap, the present study aims to adapt and evaluate the psychometric proprieties of the BERQ in the Romanian population (BERQ-RO).
Emotion regulation refers to the automatic or deliberate efforts of an individual to manage and respond cognitively and behaviorally to positive and negative emotional experiences (Garnefski et al., 2001; Gross, 1998; Thompson, 1994). In the past two decades, there has been a significant body of research aimed at comprehending the role of emotion regulation in well-being and exploring how distinct emotion regulation strategies relate to mental health and psychopathological conditions. For example, it was found that cognitive adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as positive refocusing, positive reappraisal, putting into perspective, and acceptance are negatively associated with psychological problems such as depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress (Carvajal et al., 2020; Garnefski & Kraaij, 2006; Garnefski et al., 2003; Jermann et al., 2006; Jurado et al., 2021; Oftadehal et al., 2012). Additionally, cognitive maladaptive strategies such as self-blame, other-blame, rumination and catastrophizing are associated with negative outcomes, such as decreased well-being, development and maintenance of anxiety, stress, depression and insomnia (Dubey et al., 2020; Jurado et al., 2021; Oftadehal et al., 2012; Ursu & Măirean, 2022). These findings clearly elucidate the pivotal role of cognitive emotion regulation in stress management and coping, revealing associations with well-being and psychopathology. However, they leave the behavioral aspect of emotion regulation unexplored, underscoring the necessity to develop and utilize valid instruments for investigating behavioral emotion regulation. Trying to fill this research gap, Kraaij and Garnefski (2019) proposed and developed an instrument to evaluate behavioral emotion regulation strategies, the BERQ.
Culture influences the experience of emotions and the strategies people employ to regulate their emotions (Ford & Mauss, 2015; Ratner, 2000). With this in mind, it is critical that newly designed scales undergo psychometric validation in culturally diverse groups to ensure their validity and utility. In this context, the BERQ has recently undergone the process of adaptation and psychometric validation in Turkish, Chinese, Indian, Iranian, and Spanish samples (Abdollahpour Ranjbar et al., 2021a; Bhat, et al., 2021; Tuna, 2021; Zhao et al., 2020), reporting good psychometric proprieties. In terms of criterion validity, it was shown that behavioral adaptive strategies such as seeking distraction, actively approaching, seeking social support are negatively associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety, negative self-concept, somatization, hostility and stress (Abdollahpour Ranjbar et al., 2021a; Tuna, 2021; Zhao et al., 2020). With regard to maladaptive behavioral strategies such as withdrawal and ignoring, these authors also found positive associations with depression, anxiety, stress, negative self-concept, somatization and hostility. In addition, it was shown that withdrawal significantly predicts future anxiety and stress in Turkish sample (Tuna, 2021).
Currently, there is a lack of measures in Romania that examine the behavioral component of emotion regulation. Therefore, the hypotheses of the present study are as follows: (a) Similar to the original BERQ, the Romanian version is expected to demonstrate a 5-factor structure. (b) The Romanian version of BERQ is anticipated to exhibit good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. (c1) Seeking distraction, actively approaching, and seeking social support—considered theoretically adaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies—are expected to have negative associations with depression, anxiety, stress, and negative affectivity, and positive associations with positive affectivity, (c2) Ignoring and withdrawal—deemed theoretically maladaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies—are expected to have positive associations with depression, anxiety, stress, and negative affectivity, and negative associations with positive affectivity. (d1) Theoretically adaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies (seeking distraction, actively approaching, and seeking social support) are expected to have positive associations with adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (positive refocus, positive reappraisal, acceptance, putting into perspective, and refocus on planning). (d2) Theoretically maladaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies (ignoring and withdrawal) are expected to have negative associations with maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing, and blaming others). (e) The BERQ is expected to predict future symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
The c1 and c2 hypotheses as well as d1 and d2 hypotheses assess BERQ’s criterion validity while the e hypothesis assesses BERQ’s predictive validity.
Method
Participants
The sample for this study consists of 399 participants. We chose the sample size based on the recommended item-observation ratios of 1:5 to 1:10 for factor analysis (MacCallum et al., 1999) and based on the recommendations of Hu and Bentler (1999) concerning the MLM analysis. The participants were aged between 18 and 67 years old (M = 25.30, SD = 9.20) including 331 (83%) females, 67 (16.7%) males and one participant (0.3%) identify as non-binary. Related to education, the majority participants (68.2%) graduated high school, while 20.3% graduated bachelor’s degree studies, 11% of participants graduated master’s degree studies and 0.5 participants have a PhD title. The results on marital status showed that at the time of the data collection 31.1% were involved in a committed relationship, 4% were engaged, 26.6% were married, 38.1% were single and 0.3% were widow. Of the initial sample, 67 participants (16.79%) participated in the follow-up assessment over an approximately 6-month interval.
The Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (BERQ), developed by Kraaij and Garnefski (2019), consists of 20 items organized into five dimensions assessed on a 5-point Likert scale. These dimensions are as follows: Actively Approaching, which focuses on actions and behaviors employed by individuals to regulate their emotions (e.g., 'I take action to deal with it'); Seeking Social Support, involving behaviors related to sharing emotions, seeking help, or asking for support (e.g., 'I ask someone for advice'); Seeking Distraction, encompassing actions aimed at diverting attention by engaging in unrelated activities (e.g., 'I do other things to distract myself'); Ignoring, indicating behaviors where individuals act as though nothing has happened in response to emotional situations (e.g., 'I move on and pretend that nothing happened'); and Withdrawal, which involves pulling back from situations and social contacts (e.g., 'I isolate myself'). Notably, Actively Approaching, Seeking Social Support, and Seeking Distraction are generally considered theoretically adaptive behavioral strategies for emotion regulation, while Ignoring and Withdrawal are considered maladaptive behavioral strategies."
Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ)
The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), developed by Garnefski et al. (2001), is a multidimensional questionnaire designed to assess cognitive emotion regulation. It was adapted for use in the Romanian population by Perte and Miclea (2011). The CERQ comprises nine cognitive emotion regulation strategies, which are categorized into two groups: adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, rated on a 5-point Likert scale. The adaptive strategies include positive refocus (e.g., 'I think of something nice instead of dwelling on what has happened'), positive reappraisal (e.g., 'I believe I can learn something from the situation'), putting into perspective (e.g., 'I remind myself that there are worse things in life'), acceptance (e.g., 'I acknowledge that I must accept the situation'), and refocus on planning (e.g., 'I consider how to change the situation'). In contrast, the maladaptive strategies consist of rumination (e.g., 'I often dwell on how I feel about what I've experienced'), catastrophizing (e.g., 'I continuously imagine how dreadful the situation is'), self-blame (e.g., 'I feel responsible for what has happened'), and other-blame (e.g., 'I attribute the cause to others').
Perceived Stress Scale Short Form (PSS)
A short version of PSS (Cohen et al., 1994) was used to measure participants’ perceived stress over the past month. It consists of four items (two positively ordered “In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control important things in life?”, two negatively ordered “In the last month, how often have you felt things were going your way?”) assessed on a 4-Likert point scale. The Alpha Crobach’s value was optimal (α = 0.75).
Patient Health Questionnaire for Depression and Anxiety (PHQ–4)
PHQ-4 was developed by Kroenke et al. (2009) and is a widely measure of depression and anxiety. It consists of four items: two items for depression (“e.g. Little interest or pleasure in doing things”) and two items for anxiety (“e.g. Feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge”). All items are positively ordered and are measured on a 4-point Likert scale. Related to the instructions given to participants, we decided to change the time frame from two weeks at one month for having timeframe consistency across ill-being measures. The Alpha Crobach’s values were adequate for both, depression (α = 0.74) and anxiety (α = 0.67).
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)
In order to measure participants’ positive and negative general affectivity, an adapted version of expanded version of PANAS-X (Watson & Clark, 1994) adapted for the Romanian population by Cotiga (2012) was used. This scale comprises of 26 items, grouped in two dimensions: 13 items measure positive affect (PA) and while 13 items negative affect (NA). All items were assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Participants were asked to think about themselves and how they normally feel, in general. The Alpha Crobach’s values were very good for both positive affectivity (α = 0.90) and negative affectivity (α = 0.88).
Procedure
The protocol of this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the university where the study was conducted.
The process of translating the original BERQ questionnaire involved the participation of three qualified persons: two clinical psychologists and one professional translator. The translation process itself was conducted in three distinct steps. The first step involved translating a given text from English to Romanian. The second step entailed performing a back-translation of the previously translated Romanian text back into English. Lastly, the third step involved analyzing and establishing comparisons between the original English version and the back-translated English version. Subsequently, the Romanian version of the questionnaire was distributed among a panel of fifteen specialists who evaluated both the translation's accuracy and the alignment of the items with their respective dimensions. Subsequently, following the completion of the aforementioned method, the BERQ-RO was disseminated online to the initial cohort of students in order to administer an initial assessment of its reliability and to investigate the interrelationships among its subscales.
After assessing reliability and exploring correlations among the subscales, the distribution of the questionnaire, along with additional scales, commenced. Second-year Psychology and Human Resources students were invited to take part in this study. Furthermore, students were encouraged to recruit participants for the study. All individuals involved in this study, whether as participants or research assistants, received extra-course credit. Prior to completing the questionnaire packet, all participants provided informed consent and voluntarily agreed to take part in the study. The questionnaire packet for this initial phase of the study required approximately 15 min to complete. Approximately six months later, all participants who had agreed to participate in the follow-up assessment were invited to complete the BERQ, PSS, and PHQ scales. The questionnaire packet for this phase of the study took approximately 8 min to fill out.
Data Analysis
In order to check the univariate and multivariate normality, Shapiro–Wilk and the Mardia indicators were used. Cronbach's α, MacDonald's ω and composite reliability (CR) were used to verified the internal consistency. Higher values than 0.60 were considered adequate (McDonald, 1999; Taber, 2018). Test–retest using intra-class correlations (ICC) were computed based on Cicchetti's (1994) recommendations, with values ranged between 0.40 and 0.59 considered fair. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using maximum likelihood estimation (MLM) was performed to assess the factorial validity and dimensional structure of the BERQ-RO. A 5-factor model based on the original model (Kraaij & Garnefski, 2019) was tested. The model consisted of five latent variables composed of both adaptive and non-adaptive behavioral strategies. Each latent variable consisted of four observed variables, which matched the questionnaire’s items. Chi-square test (χ2), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and Standard Root Mean Square Residuals (SRMR) were used to assess the model fit. Values above 0.90 for CFI and TLI and values below 0.08 for SRMR were considered reasonable fit. Additionally, because normality assumptions were not met, Spearman correlations between BERQ, CERQ, PSS, PHQ and PANAS were performed to evaluate criterion validity. Lastly, to evaluate predictive validity, multiple linear regression were performed. The analyses were performed in R Studio (R Core Team, 2022) using mostly the "lavaan” package (Rosseel, 2012).
Results
Normality Tests and Outliers’ Detection
First, prior to confirmatory analysis, the univariate and multivariate normality of the BERQ-RO subscales was assessed. The Shapiro–Wilk test reported significant results for each of the subscales of the questionnaire, not fulfilling the condition of univariate normality: seeking distraction (W = 0.97, p < 0.001), withdrawal (W = 0.98, p < 0.001), actively approaching (W = 0.96, p < 0.001), seeking social support (W = 0.96, p < 0.001) and ignoring (W = 0.96, p < 0.001). As for multivariate normality, the Mardia coefficient showed the presence of a significant positive asymmetric multivariate distribution (Mardia Skewness = 94.72, p < 0.000) and a significant leptokurtic multivariate distribution (Mardia Skewness = 4.65, p < 0.000), evidencing the absence of multivariate normality.
In relation to the outliers, 14 significant values were found (3 cases in seeking distraction, 3 cases in actively approaching and 8 cases in ignoring), but, since none of these is shown to be an extreme outlier, all cases were retained for the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
CFA
To confirm the original five-factor model, a CFA was conducted, using robust maximum likelihood estimation (MLM), which is less dependent of the assumption of multivariate normality. Results for this model reported acceptable model fit values (χ2 = 391.62, df = 160, p < 0.000, CFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.89, SRMR = 0.07, RMSEA = 0.06). All items showed adequate factor loadings above 0.40, except for item 20, which was decided to be dropped. With respect to the relationships between the BERQ-RO subscales, all strategies showed significant relationships (positive or negative), except for the relationship between actively approaching and ignoring.
A second 5-factor model was performed, following the modification indexes, eliminating also item 20 and the non-significant relationship found between actively approaching and ignoring. This model reported better model fit results (χ2 = 311.72, df = 141, p < 0.000, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, SRMR = 0.06, RMSEA = 0.06), which were significantly different from the first model (Δχ2 = 79.90, Δdf = 19, p = 0.000). Table 1 presents standardized factor loadings for all items within their respective dimensions. Figure 1 illustrates the adapted 5-factor model, displaying factor loadings, variances, coefficients of determination (R2) for each item, as well as covariances between subscales.
Table 1
Factor loadings of confirmatory analysis, original and translated items for BERQ-RO
SD
WI
AA
SSS
IG
BERQ 1. I engage in other, unrelated activities
(Mă implic în alte activități, fără legătură cu evenimentele negative petrecute)
.75
BERQ 2. I set my worries aside by doing something else
(Îmi las grijile deoparte, făcând altceva)
.62
BERQ 3. I do other things to distract myself
(Fac alte lucruri, pentru a-mi distrage atenția)
.62
BERQ 4. I engage in an activity which makes me feel good
(Mă implic într-o activitate care mă face să mă simt bine)
.69
BERQ 5. I avoid other people
(Evit persoanele din jur)
.73
BERQ 6. I withdraw
(Mă retrag)
.70
BERQ 7. I isolate myself
(Mă izolez)
.83
BERQ 8. I close myself off to others
(Mă închid în fața celorlalți)
.70
BERQ 9. I try to do something about it
(Încerc să fac ceva în privința asta)
.74
BERQ 10. I get to work on it
(Mă apuc să lucrez ca să schimb situația)
.54
BERQ 11. I take action to deal with it
(Caut modalități de a gestiona situatia neplăcută cu care mă confrunt)
.78
BERQ 12. I do whatever is required to deal with it
(Fac tot ceea ce este necesar pentru a rezolva problema)
.80
BERQ 13. I look for someone to comfort me
(Caut pe cineva care să mă consoleze)
.78
BERQ 14. I ask someone for advice
(Cer cuiva un sfat referitor la ceea ce mi s-a întâmplat)
.73
BERQ 15. I share my feelings with someone
(Îmi împărtășesc sentimentele unei alte persoane)
.76
BERQ 16. I look for someone who can support me
(Caut pe cineva care mă poate sprijini)
.86
BERQ 17. I move on and pretend that nothing happened
(Trec mai departe și mă prefac că nu s-a întâmplat nimic)
.66
BERQ 18. I repress it and pretend ít never happened
(Mă prefac că nu s-a întâmplat niciodată)
.83
BERQ 19. I behave as if nothing is going on
(Mă comport ca și cum nimic nu s-ar fi întâmpla)
.81
SD Seeking distraction; WI Withdrawal; AA Actively approaching; SSS Seeking social support; IG Ignoring
Fig. 1
The adapted 5-factor model, factor loadings, variances, coefficients of determination (R2) for each item and covariances between subscales
×
Reliability and Construct Validity Measures
In order to assess the reliability and construct validity of each of the five subscales that comprise the BERQ-RO, the following measures were used: Cronbach's α, MacDonald's ω, average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR). Cronbach's α, MacDonald's ω and CR values above 0.60, and AVE values above 0.50 were considered fair (McDonald, 1999; Taber, 2018). All the strategies reported Cronbach's α, MacDonald's ω and CR values above 0.70, and only seeking distraction showed AVE values below 0.50. Table 2 show results for all reliability and construct validity measures, as well as mean and standard deviations for each strategy.
Table 2
Reliability and construct validity measures for BERQ-RO subscales
Intra-class correlations were performed to assess test–retest reliability, with values above 0.40 considered adequate (Cicchetti, 1994). Seeking distraction had a 0.70 ICC [95% CI (0.52, 0.82), F = 3.38, p < 0.001], withdrawal reported a 0.63 ICC [95% CI (0.40, 0.77, F = 2.75, p < 0.001], actively approaching, 0.65 ICC [95% CI (0.44, 0.78), F = 2.94, p < 0.001], seeking social support, 0.64 ICC [95% CI (0.41, 0.77), F = 2.90, p < 0.001], and ignoring, 0.33 ICC [95% CI (− 0.07, 0.59), F = 1.50, p = 0.049].
Criterion Validity
Taking criterion validity into consideration, Spearman bivariate correlations were performed to evaluate the relationship of the BERQ-RO emotion regulation strategies with cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS), symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress and positive and negative affectivity. For this, a subsample of 276 participants was used.
Related to the CERS, seeking distraction reported to have significant positive relationships with acceptance, refocus on positive, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal and putting into perspective; and negative significant associations with catastrophizing and self-blame. No significant relationship was reported for blaming others and rumination. Withdrawal showed a positive link with self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing and blaming others; and a negative relationship with positive reappraisal and refocus on positive. No significant relationship was found for acceptance, refocus on planning and putting into perspective. Actively approaching had a positive link with acceptance, rumination, refocus on positive, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal and putting into perspective, with negative associations for blaming others, catastrophizing and self-blame. Seeking social support only showed a positive significant association with refocus on positive and positive reappraisal, with no other significant relationship. Lastly, ignoring reported to have positive significant relationships with refocus on positive and putting into perspective, showing no other significant association.
Considering symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, and positive and negative affectivity, the BERQ-RO strategies reported the following association. Seeking distraction and actively approaching showed negative correlations with depression, anxiety, stress and negative affectivity, evidencing a positive link with positive affectivity. Withdrawal reported having positive relationships with depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, as well as with negative affectivity, with negative associations with positive affectivity. Seeking social support only showed a positive significant association with positive affectivity, with no significant relationship for negative affectivity and any of the symptoms reported. Ultimately, ignoring as well did not evidence any relationship with any of the symptoms or the positive and negative affectivity. Table 3 shows results for Spearman correlations for the BERQ-RO subscales with the CERS, symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress and positive and negative affectivity, including mean and standard values for those variables.
Table 3
Bivariate Spearman correlations for BERQ-RO with CERS, depression, anxiety and stress symptoms and positive and negative affectivity
M (SD)
Seeking distraction
Withdrawal
Actively approaching
Seeking social support
Ignoring
CERQ
Self-blame
2.99 (1.11)
−.18**
.29***
−.24***
.00
.03
Acceptance
3.79 (.93)
.15**
.05
.23***
.08
.09
Rumination
3.65 (.88)
0.01
.23***
.13*
.04
−.01
Positive refocusing
2.88 (1.02)
.44***
−.15**
.33***
.20**
.22***
Refocus on planning
3.93 (.78)
.26***
−.06
.46***
.08
.00
Positive reappraisal
4.01 (.86)
.33***
−.16**
.50***
.17**
.04
Catastrophizing
2.80 (1.13)
−.25***
.30**
−.26***
.01
−.05
Putting into perspective
3.46 (.94)
.25**
−.09
.34***
.10
.12*
Blaming others
2.00 (.92)
−.06
.12*
−.14*
.05
.08
PHQ
Depression
2.24 (.74)
−.26***
.41***
−.46***
−.10
.09
Anxiety
2.30 (.71)
−.19**
.37***
−.35***
−.01
.02
PSS
Stress
1.73 (.80)
−.27***
.38***
−.50***
−.10
.05
PANAS
Positive affectivity
3.62 (.69)
.49***
−.40***
.66***
.24***
−.06
Negative affectivity
2.60 (.72)
−.29***
.57***
−.43***
−.08
.06
*p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001. Means and standard deviations are included for CERS. Depression, anxiety and stress symptoms and positive and negative affectivity
Eventually, predictive validity was evaluated for the BERQ-RO, exploring again the relationship between each subscale and future symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, which were tested six months after the BERQ-RO subscales’ measures. Depression was predicted by seeking distraction (β = − 0.20, p = 0.017), withdrawal (β = 0.24, p = 0.005) and actively approaching (β = − 0.33, p = 0.001). Anxiety was predicted by withdrawal (β = 0.19, p = 0.029), and stress showed predictive relationships with actively approaching (β = − 0.20, p = 0.045).
Discussion
The aim of the present study was to translate and adapt the BERQ into Romanian language, by validating the original structure and reporting on its psychometric proprieties. More precisely, the hypotheses were: (a) the Romanian version of BERQ would show a 5-factor structure, similar to the original BERQ; (b) the Romanian version of BERQ would have good internal consistency and test–retest reliability; (c1) seeking distraction, actively approaching and seeking for social support, known as theoretically adaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies, would be negatively associated with depression, anxiety and stress, negative affectivity and positively with positive affectivity, while (c2) ignoring and withdrawal, known as theoretically maladaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies, would be positively associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and negative affectivity and negatively with positive affectively, (d1) theoretically adaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies (seeking distraction, actively approaching and seeking for social support) would be positively associated with adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (positive refocus, positive reappraisal, acceptance, putting into perspective and refocus on planning), while (d2) theoretically maladaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies (ignoring and withdrawal) would be negatively associated with maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing and blaming others) and (e) BERQ would predict future depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms.
Concerning our first hypothesis, two 5-factor models were run. The results of the first model showed acceptable values, all items showed adequate factor loadings above 0.40, except for item 20 “I block out it”. A second model was run by dropping item 20 “I block out it”. The results of this model showed significant better model fit values compared to the first one. Thus, the results of CFA confirmed that the BERQ-RO replicated the original five-factor scale, with all items having their highest loadings on their hypothesized factors. Specifically, the BERQ-RO had the following five factors: seeking distraction, withdrawal, actively approaching, seeking social support and ignoring. Additionally, the 5-factors structure is also in line with previous BERQ validations in Turkey, China and Iran (Abdollahpour Ranjbar et al., 2021a; Tuna, 2021; Zhao et al., 2020). Furthermore, the item 20 was also dropped from the ignoring subscale in the Indian validation due to also low factor loading. Even if Hindi and Romanian languages are part from different family languages with different alphabet, semantics and grammar, there is not exact translation of “I block it out” in Romanian language either. Hence, it is plausible that the participants had challenges in providing a consistent response to this particular item.
With the exception of the association between seeking distraction and withdrawal, which was not found to be significant, all other subscale associations were either positively or negatively significant. This non-significant correlation was also observed in the Indian (Bhat et al., 2021), Chinese (Zhao et al., 2020), and Turkish (Tuna, 2021) validation studies. Generally, the correlations between subscales were moderate to high, except for the correlation between seeking social support and seeking distraction, which was small. These results emphasize that the five subscales are related yet distinct. Additionally, the strong positive correlation between the two theoretically maladaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies, ignoring and withdrawal, was also identified in the original study by Kraaij and Garnefski (2019), as well as in other validation studies with Turkish, Chinese, and Indian samples (Abdollahpour Ranjbar et al., 2021a; Tuna, 2021; Zhao et al., 2020). Seeking social support exhibited a positive correlation with the other two theoretically adaptive strategies, seeking distraction and actively approaching. A similar pattern of results was reported in the original study by Kraaij and Garnefski (2019) and in the Chinese validation study by Zhao et al. (2020). Although the correlation between seeking social support and seeking distraction was small, the correlation between seeking social support and actively approaching was rather high, affirming the adaptive nature previously suggested in the original study for these strategies (Kraaij & Garnefski, 2019).
Additionally, and contrary to our expectations, we found a positive correlation between seeking distraction (an adaptive strategy) and ignoring (a maladaptive strategy). A rather high positive correlation was also found within the Turkish sample (Tuna, 2021). While engaging in distraction may offer short-term benefits when managing intense emotions (Sheppes et al., 2011), it has been demonstrated that the chronic use of distraction can hinder individuals from effectively addressing problematic situations, potentially resulting in adverse outcomes (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008). However, these findings may also point to certain cultural nuances regarding the use of distraction as an emotion regulation strategy. For instance, a study aimed at exploring differences between Spanish and Romanian women in terms of appraisal, emotion regulation strategies, and the time required to regulate anger-inducing situations revealed that Romanian women tend to employ behavioral distraction, inhibition, and suppression as emotional strategies for regulating anger, as compared to Spanish women (Filella Guiu et al. 2016). The findings from our study and previous validations of the BERQ concerning seeking distraction suggest the need for further research to resolve the significant ambiguity surrounding whether seeking distraction is an adaptive or maladaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategy, both in general and among Romanian adults.
The reliability and construct validity results showed that all the BERQ-RO subscales have good internal consistency. Cronbach's α, MacDonald's ω and CR values ranged between 0.76 and 0.87, indicating an adequate reliability (McDonald, 1999; Taber, 2018). AVE values ranged between 0.45 and 0.61. Only the seeking distraction subscale reported a value lower than 0.50, while all other values can be considered fair (Taber, 2018). These results showed that the BERQ-RO showed good internal consistency and construct validity. In terms of test–retest reliability, the results of the intra-class correlations exhibited that expect ignoring subscale, all other subscales had good test–retest values. Considering that the test–retest interval employed was six months, a relatively lengthy duration, we have confidence by assuming that, in general, the BERQ-RO represents a reasonably stable measure of behavioral emotion regulation.
With following four hypotheses (c1, c2, d1, and d2), we tested the BERQ-RO criterion validity. Seeking distraction and actively approaching negatively correlated with depression, anxiety and stress. Similar pattern of results for anxiety and stress were found within the Persian sample (Abdollahpour Ranjbar et al., 2021b), and for depression within the Chinese sample (Zhao et al., 2020). Nevertheless, no significant correlations were found between seeking distraction and anxiety in the original study and within the Chinese and Turkish samples (Kraaij & Garnefski, 2019; Tuna, 2021; Zhao et al., 2020), and also no correlation between seeking distraction and depression only in the Turkish sample (Tuna, 2021). Withdrawal positively correlated with depression, anxiety and stress. Same pattern of results was found in Persian, Chinese and Turkish samples (Bhat et al., 2021; Tuna, 2021; Zhao et al., 2020). These findings are consistent with previous research on approach coping strategies, indicating that active problem-solving is positively correlated with psychological well-being and negatively correlated with psychopathological issues, while, conversely, adopting an avoiding approach is associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing psychopathological symptoms. (Aldao et al., 2010; Dukes Holland & Holahan, 2003; Kato, 2015; Joormann & Stanton, 2016) .
No significant correlations were found between the seeking social support and ignoring subscales, and psychological symptoms. These results seemed to be in contrast with the results reported in the original study where seeking social support negatively correlated with depression and anxiety (Kraaij & Garnefski, 2019), and with the results from other validations where seeking social support negatively correlated with depression, anxiety and stress within the Persian sample (Abdollahpour Ranjbar et al., 2021b), and with depression, but not with anxiety in the Chinese sample (Zhao et al., 2020). However, in a more similar culture, no correlation between seeking social support and anxiety and depression were found in the Turkish sample (Tuna, 2021).
Regarding ignoring, it was observed to have positive correlations with depression and anxiety in the original study by Kraaij and Garnefski (2019). Similarly, positive correlations were found with anxiety in Persian (Bhat et al., 2021), Chinese (Zhao et al., 2020), and Turkish samples (Tuna, 2021). Furthermore, correlations were noted with depression in Persian (Bhat et al., 2021) and Chinese samples (Zhao et al., 2020), while no significant correlation was observed within the Turkish sample (Tuna, 2021).
In terms of general affectivity, the results were as expected besides the links between seeking social support and negative affectivity and ignoring and positive and negative affectivity. More specifically, seeking distraction, actively approaching and seeking social support positively correlated with positive affectivity, while only seeking distraction and actively approaching negatively correlated with negative affectivity. Additionally, considering both maladaptive behavioral strategies, only withdrawal showed a positive correlation with negative affectivity and a negative correlation with positive affectivity. No significant relationship with ignoring was found. Results related to withdrawal are in line with prior meta-analysis research, which analyzed the link between coping scales and mental health (Kato, 2015). It was found that active coping was positively associated with well-being (which has a component of positive affect), while behavioral disengagement, which is similar to withdrawal, was associated with high level of negative affect and low levels of well-being.
Considering associations between behavioral and cognitive strategies, results reported small to moderate links. As expected, seeking distraction and actively approaching were positively correlated to all adaptive cognitive strategies: acceptance, positive refocusing, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal and putting into perspective. Seeking social support positively correlated with two out of five adaptive CERQ subscales: positive refocusing and positive reappraisal. Related to the associations between adaptive behavioral strategies and maladaptive cognitive strategies, actively approaching negatively correlated with all maladaptive CERQ subscales: self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing and blaming others, seeking distraction negatively correlated with only self-blame and catastrophizing, while no significant correlations were found between seeking social support and all maladaptive cognitive strategies. Prior studies have suggested the existence of cultural differences in seeking out of social support, specifically between collectivistic and individualistic societies (Kim et al., 2006). In collectivistic societies, there is often a reduced inclination to seek social support during times of stress, as individuals tend to avoid burdening others with their unpleasant feelings. According to Gavreliuc and Gavreliuc (2012), Romania can be categorized as a collectivistic culture. This cultural trait may contribute to explaining the differences observed when comparing the Romanian version with the original version, which was evaluated using a sample from the Netherlands. However, in general, the results on the link between adaptive behavioral strategies and adaptive and maladaptive cognitive strategies are consistent with the original study’s results and other validations (Abdollahpour Ranjbar et al., 2021a; Bhat et al., 2021; Kraaij & Garnefski, 2019; Tuna, 2021; Zhao et al., 2020).
In terms of the relationship between maladaptive behavioral strategies and adaptive cognitive strategies, withdrawal showed negative correlations only with positive refocusing and positive reappraisal. Contrary to our expectations, ignoring exhibited positive associations with positive refocusing and putting into perspective. Concerning maladaptive BERQ and maladaptive CERQ subscales, withdrawal displayed positive correlations with all maladaptive cognitive strategies, including self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing, and blaming others. However, no significant correlations were identified between ignoring and any maladaptive CERQ subscales. Given the absence of associations between ignoring and psychopathological factors, affectivity, maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies, in conjunction with its positive correlations with seeking distraction (a theoretically adaptive strategy) and cognitive adaptive strategies like positive refocusing and putting into perspective, further research is warranted to determine whether ignoring is an adaptive or maladaptive strategy within the Romanian population.
Overall, these findings regarding the associations between behavioral and cognitive strategies align with prior research (Abdollahpour Ranjbar et al., 2021a; Bhat et al., 2021; Kraaij & Garnefski, 2019; Tuna, 2021; Zhao et al., 2020). They demonstrate that behavioral and cognitive strategies are interconnected, but can be considered distinct and separate strategies.
Finally, we explored the predictive effect of the BERQ subscales for psychological symptoms over a period of six months. Depression was negatively predicted by seeking distraction and actively approaching and positively by withdrawal. Anxiety was only positively predicted by withdrawal, while stress was only negatively predicted by actively approaching. Similar results were reported by Tuna (2021) where anxiety and depressive symptoms were predicted by withdrawal. Based on these studies, we can highlight the importance of developing actively approaching skills during therapy sessions and the prevention of using maladaptive strategies such as withdrawal. For instance, in a meta-analysis on the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on anxiety among youngsters it was found that interventions based on approaching worries actively through reflection and experience leaded to a moderate and significant effect in decreasing anxiety symptoms (Borquist-Conlon et al., 2019).
The present study encountered several limitations. Ones of the most notable limitations pertains to the use of a cross-sectional design and reliance on self-report measures. Future investigations would benefit from adopting longitudinal designs to establish causality within the relationships under scrutiny. Additionally, the inclusion of clinical interviews could enhance the assessment of psychopathology and further our understanding of their associations with behavioral strategies. Moreover, the acquisition of data through experience sampling methods could yield valuable insights into the associations and impact of emotional experiences and behavioral emotion regulation strategies in daily life. Furthermore, it's important to note that the majority of participants in this study were students and females, necessitating caution when extending the study's results to other demographic groups.
In conclusion, the results on reliability, test–retest reliability, construct, criterion and predictive validity highlight that the Romanian version of the BERQ could be a helpful tool to assess emotion regulation strategies among adults. Overall, seeking distraction and actively approaching when confronting with adverse or stressful situations seem to be more adaptive strategies, while withdrawal is a less adaptive strategy of dealing with stressful situations.
Declarations
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Ethics Approval
The protocol of this study was approved by the Ethics Committee (44/ 22.11.2021) of the university where the study was conducted.
Informed Consent
Prior to completing the questionnaires, all participants provided informed consent and voluntarily agreed to take part in the study.
Conflict of Interest
Andreea Ursu, María Priego Ojeda, and Cristian Opariuc-Dan declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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