The development of the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (BERQ), counterpart of the CERQ.

Kraaij, V (Vivian)¹, Garnefski, N (Nadia)¹
¹Leiden University, Leiden, Nederland

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Poster, Beurs van Berlage , Grote Zaal

Kernwoorden

Trauma, coping, assessment, depression, anxiety

Onderzoeksgebied

Assessment, differential diagnosis & comorbidity

Introductie

People’s coping strategies play an important role in the adaptation to negative life events and well-being. To measure coping strategies, a new questionnaire the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was developed. This questionnaire consists of 5 scales and assesses one’s behavioral style or strategies of responding to stressful life events. It is the first questionnaire that measures pure behavioral coping and complements the CERQ which focuses on cognitive coping only.

Materiaal en methodes

In a sample of 457 adults from the general population the psychometric properties of the BERQ and its relationship with the CERQ and measures of well-being were examined.

Resultaten

Principal component analyses supported the allocation of items to the subscales, with alphas of all scales being high. All BERQ scales correlated significantly with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Higher use of more adaptive strategies was related to fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, and higher use of less adaptive strategies was related to more depression and anxiety symptoms. The BERQ and CERQ scales were mainly small to moderately correlated with each other, confirming that behavioral and cognitive coping are separate constructs.

Conclusie

The results suggest that it is important to pay attention to behavioral coping in treatment and prevention programs for depression and anxiety.