The Contextualized Emotion Regulation Survey for Adolescents (CERSA): How does emotion regulation vary according to context?

Abstract

Recent models of emotion regulation (ER) highlight the need to construct tools that assess ER in different contexts. This paper describes the development and validation of the Contextualized Emotion Regulation Survey for Adolescents (CERSA). This questionnaire assesses ER strategies and abilities in three situations that elicit specific emotions (i.e. sadness, fear and anger). Data were collected from a sample of 840 adolescents who completed the CERSA (M age = 14.75; SD age = 1.61) and another of 314 adolescents who completed the CERSA, the CERQ and the SLWS (M age = 13.63; SD age = 0.85). Results confirmed the expected structure in all situations as well as construct and external validity. Furthermore, correlations between latent factors and gender differences in ER strategies and abilities were often situation dependant. Mean levels of ER strategies and abilities varied according to the situation. These results provide empirical support for ER flexibility and polyregulation in adolescence.