Adapting a Strategy-Based Measure of Behavioral Emotion Regulation: An Exploration of Links with Psychopathology from a Network Perspective

Within the strategy-based approach, research has extensively explored cognitive emotion regulation strategies and their association with psychopathology. The present study aims to focus on behavioral strategies by adapting the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (BERQ). Additionally, to explore the interplay between multiple types of strategies and their interaction with psychopathology, we assessed the links between both adaptive and maladaptive cognitive and behavioral strategies with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, utilizing a network perspective. Using a sample of 518 native Spanish speakers, the results corroborated the factor structure of both the BERQ-SP and the reduced version, demonstrating comparable reliability and validity. In terms of associations with psychopathology, maladaptive strategies exhibited stronger links with symptoms, particularly cognitive ones, which appeared more closely connected to the symptoms within the network. Considering bridge centrality, adaptive strategies such as actively approaching and seeking distraction, and maladaptive strategies such as self-blame and rumination, exhibited a central role in the network, connecting different types of strategies and symptoms. Notably, rumination and seeking distraction showed positive links with both adaptive and maladaptive strategies. These findings highlight the complexity of the interactions between strategies and symptoms, suggesting the need to consider these connections in the context of therapeutic interventions.