Testing a digital and interactive scale (the three circles) to assess emotion regulation

The tripartite model of emotion regulation (Three Circle Model), comprising threat, drive, and soothing systems, underpins Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). These systems are implicated in experiences of emotion, motivation, and physiological activation and this model is used within CFT frameworks to assess emotion regulation functioning and assist with case formulation. Despite its importance to CFT, each system is typically gauged using proxy self-report measures of emotion, lacking direct measurement of system interactivity. In this study, we developed and psychometrically tested a novel digital measure of the tripartite model with 311 young adults (aged 18-24, M = 19.6; 223 female, 85 male, 3 non-binary). Here we report that evaluation indicated the measure had good construct validity with other validated self-report measures of emotion, emotion regulation, and mental health. Test-retest reliability of the scale was then established in a second sample with 90 participants (aged 18-24, M = 23.2; 43 female, 46 male, 1 non-binary). These findings support the use of this measure as a brief, dynamic scale that captures central CFT theory and can be easily used with clients or in research contexts.