Flexible self-regulation has been shown to be an adaptive ability. This study adapted and validated the adult Flexible Regulation of Emotional Expression (FREE) Scale for use with youth (FREE-Y) in community and maltreatment samples. The FREE-Y measures the ability to flexibly enhance and suppress emotion expression across an array of hypothetical social scenarios. Participants (N = 654, 8–19 years) were included from three studies. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed a theoretically appropriate higher order factor structure. Using multiple-group CFAs, measurement invariance was achieved across maltreatment status, age, and gender. Reliabilities were adequate and construct validity was demonstrated through associations with measures of emotion regulation, psychopathology, IQ, and executive functioning. Group comparisons indicated lower Suppression and Flexibility scores for maltreated versus comparison participants. Findings suggest that the FREE-Y is a valid measure of expressive regulation ability in youth that can be applied across a range of populations.

灵活的自我调节已被证明是一种适应能力。本研究改编并验证了社区和虐待样本中用于青少年的成人情绪表达灵活调节（FREE）量表（FREE-Y）。 FREE-Y 衡量在一系列假设的社交场景中灵活增强和抑制情绪表达的能力。参与者（ N = 654，8-19 岁）来自三项研究。验证性因子分析 (CFA) 证实了理论上适当的高阶因子结构。使用多组 CFA，在虐待状况、年龄和性别方面实现了测量不变性。可靠性是足够的，并且通过与情绪调节、精神病理学、智商和执行功能测量的关联证明了结构有效性。小组比较表明，与对照参与者相比，受虐待的参与者的抑制和灵活性得分较低。研究结果表明，FREE-Y 是衡量青少年表达调节能力的有效指标，可适用于各种人群。