Cultural and Emotional Expression Scale for Filipino Youth (CEES-FY): A Psychological Tool for Understanding Emotional Awareness, Regulation, and Cultural Influences

Emotional awareness, regulation and expression are indicative factors of adolescent development, specifically in communities that are clearly rich in diverse forms of culture. The Cultural and Emotional Expression Scale for Filipino Youth (CEES-FY) was developed to make a thorough assessment with the unique emotional experiences of Filipino adolescents which will integrate cultural dimensions that largely influence emotional expression. Extensively drawn from Emotional Intelligence Theory (Salovey & Mayer, 1990) and Cultural Psychology and Emotion (Markus & Kitayama, 1991), the CEES-FY captures five key dimensions: Emotional Awareness, Emotional Regulation, Interpersonal Emotional Expression, Cultural Influences on Emotional Expression, and Emotional Coping and Family Bonds. The study employed a two-phase validation process which includes exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. It resulted in a 33-item scale with good internal reliability (α = 0.792). Findings suggest that Filipino adolescents’ emotional regulation is informed by cultural expectations, where values such as kapwa (shared identity), hiya (shame), and pakikisama (social harmony) have a great tendency to influence how emotions are processed and expressed. The CEES-FY provides a responsive framework in appropriate alignment with culture for understanding adolescent emotional well-being, offering practical applications in psychological assessment, education and mental health interventions. It marks a solid progress not only in heightened awareness of how sociocultural influences greatly affect emotional development but also can act as an invaluable utility in research and practice to support adolescent mental health. This study offers new ground to encourage broader discussions on inclusive psychological assessment and culturally relevant actions by reorienting the focus on the overlap of culture and emotional regulation.