title: Emotion regulation in patients with rheumatic diseases: validity and responsiveness of the Emotional Approach Coping Scale (EAC).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic rheumatic diseases are painful conditions which are not entirely controllable and can place high emotional demands on individuals. Increasing evidence has shown that emotion regulation in terms of actively processing and expressing disease-related emotions are likely to promote positive adjustment in patients with chronic diseases. The Emotional Approach Coping Scale (EAC) measures active attempts to acknowledge, understand, and express emotions. Although tested in other clinical samples, the EAC has not been validated for patients with rheumatic diseases. This study evaluated the data quality, internal consistency reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Norwegian version of the EAC for this group of patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  220 patients with different rheumatic diseases were included in a cross-sectional study in which data quality and internal consistency were assessed. Construct validity was assessed through comparisons with the Brief Approach/Avoidance Coping Questionnaire (BACQ) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-20). Responsiveness was tested in a longitudinal pretest-posttest study of two different coping interventions, the Vitality Training Program (VTP) and a Self-Management Program (SMP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The EAC had low levels of missing data. Results from principal component analysis supported two subscales, Emotional Expression and Emotional Processing, which had high Cronbach's alphas of 0.90 and 0.92, respectively. The EAC had correlations with approach-oriented items in the BACQ in the range 0.17-0.50. The EAC Expression scale had a significant negative correlation with the GHQ-20 of -0.13. As hypothesized, participation in the VTP significantly improved EAC scores, indicating responsiveness to change.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The EAC is an acceptable and valid instrument for measuring emotional processing and expression in patients with rheumatic diseases. The EAC scales were responsive to change in an intervention designed to promote emotion regulation. The instrument has not yet been tested for test-retest reliability, which is recommended in future studies.
authors.affiliation: National Resource Center for Rehabilitation in Rheumatology, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Pb, 23 Vinderen, Oslo, Norway. heidi.zangi@diakonsyk.no
authors.forename: Heidi A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Zangi
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garratt
authors.forename: Kåre Birger
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.forename: Annette L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.forename: Petter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mowinckel
authors.forename: Arnstein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finset
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000592:standards*; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult