Four ways to measure an emotion regulation repertoire, and why they don’t tell the same story

Pooling seven Canadian student samples, researchers compared common ways of measuring the range of strategies people use to manage their emotions. Which strategies people favoured was more closely tied to mental health than how many they used.

Emotion regulation research often uses the metaphor of a toolbox. The repertoire is the toolbox and the strategies are the tools, and a larger, more varied toolbox is thought to allow more flexible regulation. Researchers measure repertoires in quite different ways, though, and there is no agreement on the best approach.

Galarneau and colleagues compared four:

• The sum index adds up how much a person uses each strategy. The authors note that it is mixed up with overall regulatory effort. In their worked example, someone who uses three strategies a lot and someone who uses all six moderately both score 12.75.

• The distinct index counts how many strategies a person uses at all.

• The diversity index, borrowed from ecology, captures both how many strategies are used and how evenly. The authors note that some earlier studies calculated it with the wrong denominator.

• Latent profiles group people by which strategies they favour relative to their own average.

The data

The team combined seven datasets covering 3,024 undergraduates at two Canadian universities, with an average age of 19. All completed the Regulation of Emotion Systems Survey, which covers six strategies:

• distraction

• rumination

• reappraisal

• expressive suppression

• expressive engagement

• relaxation

Participants also completed measures of depression, anxiety and stress.

The analysis found five profiles:

• Ruminate & Engage Propensity (641 people)

• Reappraise, Engage & Relax Propensity (263)

• Ruminate & Suppress Propensity (674)

• Diverse Regulators (1,252)

• Distract & Suppress Propensity (194)

How the measures relate

The distinct and diversity indices were strongly correlated (r = .86), and both lined up sensibly with the profiles. The sum index did not. It was positively correlated with profiles built around two favoured strategies and negatively correlated with profiles using three or more. The profiles positively linked to the sum index shared a propensity for rumination or suppression.

Links with depression, anxiety and stress

When the indices were tested together, controlling for age, the sum index and the profiles were consistently linked to ill-being. Most associations for the distinct and diversity indices fell away.

A higher sum index went with more depression, anxiety and stress, the opposite of what would be expected if it measured a healthy, varied toolbox. The authors offer two readings. Heavy regulatory effort may be harmful when it does not succeed, or people with more symptoms may simply need to regulate more. Because the study is cross-sectional, it cannot tell these apart.

The profiles showed a consistent pattern. The two rumination profiles had the highest symptoms. Reappraise, Engage & Relax had the lowest, and Diverse Regulators and Distract & Suppress fell in between. Diverse Regulators did not have the lowest symptoms, which the authors take to suggest that having many strategies may not be enough on its own. People may apply strategies where they work less well, or even moderate levels of rumination or suppression may matter.

Recommendations

The authors conclude that they cannot recommend the sum index as a measure of repertoire diversity. They favour person-centred latent profiles, which they suggest could also help identify higher- and lower-risk profiles in clinical settings.

They acknowledge that all samples were Canadian undergraduates, mostly women and majority White, within a narrow age range. All measures were self-report, and the cross-sectional design means the direction of effects cannot be determined.

Reference: Galarneau, E., De France, K., Lougheed, J. P., Colasante, T., Faulkner, K., Wylie, M., & Hollenstein, T. (2027). How do I measure emotion regulation repertoire? Let me count the ways: The sum index, distinct index, diversity index, and latent profiles. Personality and Individual Differences, 265, Article 114122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.114122