Emotional regulation skills: psychometric analysis in college students

The rising incidence of psychological distress in higher education calls for the availability of precise assessment tools; however, the adaptation of comprehensive emotion regulation instruments in the context of Indonesian students remains limited. This study aims to conduct a psychometric analysis of the Indonesian version of the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ) and to explore the influence of demographic factors on these skills. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 647 students in Yogyakarta via convenience sampling. Analyses were conducted using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to test construct validity, along with T-tests and One-Way ANOVAs for comparative analysis. The CFA results confirmed the nine-dimensional structure of the ERSQ with excellent model fit indicators (CFI=0.942; TLI=0.931; RMSEA=0.042) and high internal consistency (alpha=0.915). The findings indicate that the variables of semester level (p=0.021) and age range (p=0.016) have a significant effect on emotional regulation efficacy, while the variables of gender and birth order do not show significant differences. This study makes a methodological contribution in the form of a psychometrically validated instrument for mapping students’ emotional profiles. In practical terms, college counseling administrators need to design more specific interventions for students during the early transition to college and late adolescence to optimize their academic resilience.