The Robustness of the Nine-Factor Structure of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire across Four Arabic-Speaking Middle Eastern Countries

The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) focuses on the “pure” cognitive components of emotion regulation thought to help people to manage and control their emotions during or after the experience of a stressful event. The aim of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of an Arabic version of the CERQ (CERQ-Ar) across four Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East (i.e., Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar; N = 1,470). The original nine-factor CERQ model was confirmed, and these factors had moderate-to-high internal reliabilities, modest-to-strong interrelations, and meaningful associations with positive and negative affect. Results were robust across the four Arabic countries, suggesting that the same cognitive emotion regulation strategies appear to be present across different cultures, but the relative preference to use one or more strategies may quantitatively vary across cultures.