Emotion Belief Profiles in Clinical Populations: Associations with Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Psychological Distress

Objectives: Maladaptive beliefs about emotions (e.g., believing emotions are uncontrollable or useless) are theorised to contribute to emotion regulation difficulties and psychological distress. Despite growing interest, limited research has examined maladaptive emotion beliefs in clinical populations. This study investigated the psychometric properties and latent profiles of the Emotion Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ) in a clinical sample. Methods: A sample of 385 adults undergoing psychotherapy completed the EBQ alongside measures of emotion regulation difficulties (Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory) and psychological distress (Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21). Results: Confirmatory factor analyses supported a three-factor model distinguishing beliefs about emotional controllability and the usefulness of positive and negative emotions. The EBQ demonstrated strong internal consistency and convergent and incremental validity. Latent Profile Analysis identified six distinct profiles of emotion beliefs, which were differentially associated with emotion regulation difficulties and psychological distress. Notably, the two profiles characterised by the highest levels of maladaptive emotion beliefs had the highest levels of emotion regulation difficulties and psychological distress. Conclusions: These findings underscore the heterogeneity of emotion belief patterns in clinical populations and highlight the importance of assessing belief combinations rather than isolated dimensions, which can help with more personalised therapeutic interventions. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of emotion beliefs in psychopathology and supports the use of the EBQ as a psychometrically sound tool with clinical samples.