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Emotional responding: Integration of multiple constructs and association with psychological health
Author(s) -
Clifton Jessica,
Seehuus Martin,
Parent Justin,
Pichler Emily,
Fondacaro Karen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22885
Subject(s) - experiential avoidance , psychology , structural equation modeling , psychopathology , association (psychology) , mental health , mindfulness , clinical psychology , exploratory factor analysis , anxiety , transtheoretical model , confirmatory factor analysis , construct (python library) , psychometrics , social psychology , psychotherapist , behavior change , psychiatry , statistics , mathematics , computer science , programming language
Objective Numerous psychological constructs exist to describe different facets of emotional responding , but they have rarely been examined together. We empirically modeled the associations between four psychological constructs (mindfulness, emotional nonacceptance, experiential avoidance, and anxiety sensitivity) of individuals' responses to their affective experience, hypothesizing that a bifactor model would fit the data best. Method We used exploratory structural equation modeling, a novel latent variable modeling framework, to compare five measurement models of emotional responding in an online community sample ( N = 307). Results A bifactor model including a general emotional responding factor had substantial factor loadings from nearly all items, with mixed results for specific factors. Exploratory analyses supported the significant association of avoidant emotional responding and psychopathology/well‐being. Conclusion The general avoidant emotional responding factor appears to overlap most directly with experiential avoidance and may be a transtheoretical construct relevant to mental health.