Brief introduction to the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) Overview

The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) is a tool that examines how you talk to yourself and how you think after negative and stressful events. It shows which mental strategies (both adaptive and maladaptive) you use to cope with your emotions.

Instead of focusing directly on your feelings, CERQ focuses on your thoughts and interpretations of events. For this reason, it is widely used in cognitive-behavioral therapies and emotion research.

What is CERQ and what does it measure? What is CERQ?

CERQ is a self-report questionnaire that assesses several important cognitive emotion regulation strategies in difficult situations. These strategies include adaptive and maladaptive ways of thinking, such as:

• Rumination: Continuously dwelling on negative thoughts about the event.
• Self-blame: Holding yourself responsible for what happened.
• Other-blame: Focusing heavily on blaming others.
• Catastrophizing: Interpreting the event as a major, unbearable catastrophe.
• Positive reappraisal: Trying to see aspects of growth, meaning, or learning in the event.
• Positive refocusing: Redirecting your attention to other pleasant things to reduce negative emotion.
• Acceptance: Acknowledging the event as part of reality instead of denying it.
• Putting into perspective / planning: Seeing the event in the broader context of your life and planning how to move forward.

The combination of scores on these strategies provides an overall picture of your typical cognitive emotion regulation style.

Who is this questionnaire for? Target Group

The CERQ is designed for older adolescents and adults, and is used in different contexts:

• People who want to know how they talk to themselves after failures, stress, or conflict.
• Clients in cognitive-behavioral therapy or schema therapy who want to work on their emotion regulation style.
• Students and researchers in the fields of emotion, mental health, and resilience.

Applications of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire Applications

CERQ results can be used in various situations:

• Helping therapists understand what kinds of thoughts and interpretations a client uses most often.
• Planning interventions to teach more adaptive strategies (such as cognitive restructuring, positive refocusing, and acceptance).
• Research on the links between cognitive emotion regulation and depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and overall health.
• Self-understanding: becoming aware of which thinking habits your mind tends to fall into.

How is this questionnaire administered? Administration

In CERQ, you are asked to imagine that you have experienced an unpleasant or stressful event, and then indicate what kinds of thoughts you usually have in such situations.

• Question type: short statements about your thoughts and interpretations after an event.
• Response format: multi-level rating scale (for example, from “almost never” to “almost always”).
• Administration: self-report; can be completed on paper or online.
• Estimated time: about 10–15 minutes, depending on the version.

Before answering the CERQ, keep these points in mind Before You Start

• Think about what kind of thoughts actually go through your mind after a difficult or upsetting event.
• Do not look for the ideal or “correct” answer; describe your current mental style.
• If you hesitate between two options, choose the one that fits you most of the time.
• Remember: the goal of this questionnaire is not judgment; it is to map your thinking habits.
• Later, you can work with a professional to reduce maladaptive strategies and strengthen adaptive ones.

Interpreting the results of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire Interpretation

CERQ typically provides a separate score for each strategy; higher scores on a given scale indicate more frequent use of that strategy.

In general:

• High scores on rumination, catastrophizing, self-blame, or other-blame can be associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress.
• High scores on positive reappraisal, positive refocusing, acceptance, and putting things into perspective are usually linked to better resilience and adjustment.
• The overall pattern of scores helps the therapist see which thinking patterns need more attention in treatment.

Detailed interpretation is best done with a mental health professional, so that your scores are understood in the broader context of your life, personality, and current circumstances.

Map of cognitive emotion regulation strategies CERQ Map

Cognitive emotion regulation strategies can be grouped into two main categories:

Frequently asked questions about the CERQ FAQ