Abstract. The Emotional Processing Scale (EPS) assesses emotional processing in terms of suppression, signs of unprocessed emotion, controllability of emotions, avoidance of emotional triggers, and impoverished emotional experience. Previous confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) yielded insufficient fit and questioned the EPS factors’ discriminant validity. The present study aimed to test unidimensional, five-factor, and bifactor models using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and CFA. We administered the scale to 350 Italian participants in good health and 346 gastrointestinal patients referred for endoscopy because of mild-to-severe gastrointestinal symptoms. ESEM models outperformed corresponding CFA models. The bifactor ESEM model was a good fit in single group analyses and achieved metric and scalar invariance in multigroup analyses. The inspection of latent mean differences revealed a consistent trend for patients to avoid emotional triggers and have less general emotional processing difficulties. The study clarified the EPS factor structure and supported its use to assess the emotional processing of medical patients and community participants.

中文翻译：

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情绪加工量表的结构 (EPS-25)

摘要。情绪加工量表 (EPS) 从抑制、未加工情绪的迹象、情绪的可控性、避免情绪触发和贫乏的情绪体验等方面评估情绪加工。以前的验证性因素分析 (CFA) 产生的拟合不足，并质疑 EPS 因素的区分有效性。本研究旨在使用探索性结构方程模型 (ESEM) 和 CFA 测试一维、五因子和双因子模型。我们对 350 名健康状况良好的意大利参与者和 346 名因轻度至重度胃肠道症状转诊接受内镜检查的胃肠道患者进行了量表。ESEM 模型优于相应的 CFA 模型。双因子 ESEM 模型非常适合单组分析，并在多组分析中实现了度量和标量不变性。对潜在平均差异的检查揭示了患者避免情绪触发和一般情绪处理困难的一致趋势。该研究阐明了 EPS 因素结构，并支持将其用于评估医疗患者和社区参与者的情绪处理。