Psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory (PERCI) in the Chinese version.

Background: The Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory (PERCI) evaluates an individual's capacity to regulate their positive and negative emotions. To support future cross-cultural studies on emotion regulation, a Chinese version of PERCI was created and its psychometric properties and measurement invariance among different time points, genders, and educational levels were examined in 870 college students.

Methods: The study employed confirmatory factor analysis to test the seven models from the original research and used multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to examine the measurement equivalence of the Chinese version of PERCI across different genders, time points, and educational levels. Additionally, construct validity was assessed through the correlations with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS).

Results: The three-order eight-factor model of the Chinese version was similar to the factor structure of the original version. The Chinese version exhibited good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Additionally, significant relationships were observed between the total scores and the scores of different subdimensions of PERCI, DASS-21, DERS, and TEPS. According to the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, the measurement invariance of PERCI was good across educational levels, time points, and genders. These findings are discussed within the context of relevant literature.

Conclusion: The Chinese version of PERCI demonstrates good reliability and validity, making it a suitable measurement tool for assessing the emotion regulation abilities of college students in China.