This paper examines decentering — an emotion regulation strategy in which individuals observe their thoughts and feelings as temporary, objective mental events rather than as reflections of self — and reviews the three-study validation of the Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) conducted by Fresco et al. (2007). The paper outlines how exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses reduced the EQ to an 11-item unifactorial decentering measure, evaluates its concurrent and discriminant validity against established instruments including the BDI-II and the Ruminative Response Scale, and discusses the instrument's applicability to both community and clinical populations. The clinical utility of the validated EQ for counselors assessing clients' emotion regulation styles is also considered.
The ability to regulate one's emotions has been increasingly incorporated into models of psychopathology, distress disorders such as depression and anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Emotion regulation has been conceptualized as the mental processes by which individuals control or temper their emotions — consciously or unconsciously — in order to respond to environmental demands (Fresco et al., 2007). The process of emotion regulation is believed to be distinct from the emotion generation process; however, the specific distinction between the two still remains a source of debate.
Theoretical models have been able to associate successful emotion regulation with positive health outcomes, improved personal relationships, and more productive performance in academic and professional settings. Conversely, difficulties with emotion regulation have been associated with mental disorders and emotional distress (Fresco et al., 2007). One important emotion regulation strategy is decentering.
Fresco et al. (2007) discuss the concept of decentering as an ability to observe one's thoughts and feelings as temporary, objective events that occur in the mind, as opposed to viewing them as true reflections of the self. For instance, a person using decentering would think, "I am thinking that I feel depressed right now," rather than simply "I am depressed" (Fresco et al., 2007). Decentering is focused on the present and assumes a nonjudgmental, accepting stance toward one's feelings and thoughts.
This perspective allows one to take a detached view of thoughts and emotions, making it a useful tool in cognitive therapies. Understanding how a client uses emotion regulation techniques such as decentering can be valuable when counseling clients with mood issues, life or job dissatisfaction, adjustment difficulties, and forms of psychopathology such as personality disorders. Helping people learn to step back from their thoughts and feelings is one of the central goals of mindfulness-based counseling.
The Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) was designed as a measure of decentering and rumination for use in practice-oriented settings rather than purely research-oriented ones. However, at the time of Fresco et al.'s (2007) investigation, the measure had not yet been empirically validated. The researchers therefore undertook three separate studies to validate the EQ.
To confirm the presence of two proposed subscales — rumination and a wider perspective — the researchers conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on data obtained from the first of two student samples. This initial CFA did not achieve a good fit. Subsequent exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by a CFA on a second student sample, indicated a unifactorial construct of decentering. This unifactorial measure consisted of 11 of the original 16 items; the remaining five items did not cluster well with the others.
It was therefore hypothesized that the EQ measures a single, uniform decentering construct that encompasses several distinct aspects of decentering rather than separate subscales.
"EQ validated against depression and emotion regulation scales"
"Unifactorial EQ model fits clinical patient samples"
"EQ utility for counselors assessing rumination and decentering"
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