Investigating the Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Mentalized Affectivity Scale in Students: A Descriptive Study

Mental affectivity is a new perspective on emotion regulation. This view has introduced a new aspect in emotional regulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Mentalized Affectivity Scale in university students.

The research method is cross-sectional and factor analysis. Its statistical population was all the students of public universities in Tehran City who were selected in a random multi-stage cluster method (academic year 2020-2021). The sample size included 500 participants, out of which 492 people were included in the analysis. Following tools were used in this study: Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Affective Style Questionnaire (ASQ), Symptom Checklist-25 (SCL), and the Mentalized Affectivity Scale (MAS). In order to analyze the data, confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis, as well as Cronbach's alpha reliability and criterion validity methods were used.

The results showed that this scale has desirable psychometric properties. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three-component model of this scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.91 for the whole scale, and 0.91, 0.85, and 0.64 for the three components of identification, processing, and expression, respectively.

Considering the desirable psychometric properties of the Mentalized Affectivity Scale, this scale can be used by researchers in psychological studies, focusing on the student community. It seems necessary to observe caution in using these instruments for other statistical communities.