Development and validation of a State-Reappraisal Inventory (SRI)

Reappraisal is a multifaceted construct associated with a wide range of proximal (e.g., affective responses) and distal (e.g., psychopathology) consequences. To date, our understanding of use of reappraisal is based either on self-reports of tendencies to use a specific strategy in general or in the last week or on performance on lab-based tasks. There has been little effort to measure use of reappraisal immediately following an emotionally evocative situation (i.e., state-reappraisal). To close this gap, we developed the State-Reappraisal Inventory (SRI) that ascertains use of reappraisal immediately after an emotional event. In Study 1, exploratory factor analyses yielded two reliable subscales measuring state levels of construal of an emotion-eliciting situating as more positive (Increase Positive) and less negative (Decrease Negative). In two further studies, confirmatory factor analyses using a bifactor model provided a good fit for the data and surpassed three competing models. In a fourth study, the SRI showed sensitivity to experimentally induced state changes in reappraisal. Across studies, the questionnaire demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity. Thus, the SRI is a new measure of statereappraisal that can allow researchers and clinicians to examine the extent to which individuals use reappraisal in emotional situations.