The Effortful Control Scale for adults: psychometric properties of the Catalan version and its relationship to cognitive emotion regulation

Abstract

The goals of this study were (a) to examine the psychometric properties of a Catalan version of the Effortful control scale of the Adult Temperament Questionnaire short-form and (b) to analyze the relationships among effortful control (EC), negative affectivity (NA), and the use of negative cognitive emotion regulation (ER) strategies. In a sample of 353 college students, the instrument presents acceptable internal consistency, temporal stability and convergent validity; however, in general, psychometric properties are poorer than those reported for other versions. Confirmatory factor analysis fit indices revealed an overall poor fit for the three-factor theoretical model. Additionally, it has been found that the proneness to engage in negative cognitive ER strategies was mainly related with exhibiting high NA. Further, although such tendencies were also influenced by EC capabilities, data did not show EC moderating the relationships among NA, anxiety, and the use of negative cognitive ER strategies.