Brief Description
The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) is a widely used tool designed to assess how people regulate their emotions through two main strategies: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Cognitive reappraisal involves changing how one thinks about a situation to alter its emotional impact, while expressive suppression involves holding back outward displays of emotion. Respondents provide feedback on their level of agreement with statements such as “When I want to feel more positive emotion (such as joy or amusement), I change what I’m thinking about” and “I keep my emotions to myself.” Responses are provided on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Mental health professionals often use the ERQ to understand a client's usual emotion regulation habits, which can inform treatment approaches.
Assessment Administration Type
Self-Report
Number of questions
10
Age Range for Administration
18+
Recommended Frequency of Administration
No recommended standard frequency; Blueprint recommends weekly or as clinically indicated.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
Scoring the ERQ involves adding up the responses to specific items that correspond to each emotion regulation strategy using the following table:
Domain | Items |
Cognitive reappraisal | 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 |
Expressive suppression | 2, 4, 6, 9 |
Each score reflects how often a person uses that strategy, with higher scores indicating more frequent use. For example, a high score in expressive suppression may suggest that a person often holds back their emotions. There are no cutoff scores.
High cognitive reappraisal scores suggest that an individual tends to reinterpret situations positively, which is linked to better mental health. High expressive suppression scores may indicate avoidance of emotional expression, which is associated with anxiety, depression, and interpersonal difficulties.
Blueprint Adjustments
Limitations on the Blueprint platform require a total score to be provided. For the ERQ, the total score is irrelevant and should be ignored.
Clinical Considerations
Estimated time for completion: 2-4 minutes
Cultural norms for the individual should be considered during discussion and intervention around emotional regulation.
Citation
Relevant Articles + Further Resources
We're here for you!
Do you have follow-up questions? We're here and happy to help!
Send us an email at help@blueprint-health.com or use the help messenger in the lower right corner to speak with our Support team. 💪🏼