Validation of the Management of Emotions in Others Scale-Short Form in Spanish adolescents

TL;DR

This study validates a Spanish version of a scale measuring how adolescents manage others' emotions, showing it is reliable and useful.

Contribution

The study provides the first validation of the MEOS-SASF scale for Spanish adolescents.

Findings

The MEOS-SASF has a three-factor structure with good internal consistency.

The scale shows convergent validity with emotional intelligence and life satisfaction.

It is valid for measuring interpersonal emotion regulation in Spanish adolescents.

Abstract

The Managing the Emotions of Others Scale—Spanish Adaptation Short Form (MEOS-SASF) is an instrument used to assess prosocial and non-prosocial aspects of interpersonal emotion regulation. The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the scale have not been evaluated in adolescent populations. The aims of the present study were, first, to examine the factorial and convergent validity, internal consistency, and gender and age related measurement invariance of the Spanish adolescent adaptation of the MEOS-SF (MEOS-SASF), and second, to evaluate its applicability in an adolescent sample of 701 Spanish adolescents (M = 13.26; SD = 1.10). The MEOS-SASF presented a three-factor (prosocial, non-prosocial and concealing) correlated structure. The three subscales of the MEOS-SASF exhibited adequate internal consistency indices (alphas and omegas = 0.72–0.87). The results of the gender and age analysis revealed a good fit. Additionally, the MEOS-SASF showed evidence of convergent validity with respect to trait emotional intelligence, sadism, social competence and satisfaction with life. The MEOS-SASF offers reliable and valid measures of interpersonal emotion regulation in Spanish adolescents.

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