Given that Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) is associated with problems in emotion regulation, the importance of assessing this construct is widely acknowledged by clinical psychologists and pain specialists. Although the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) is a self-report measure used worldwide, there are no data on its psychometric properties in patients with FMS. This study analyzed the dimensionality, reliability, and validity of the CERQ in a sample of 231 patients with FMS. Given that “fibrofog” is one of the most disabling FMS symptoms, in the present study, items in the CERQ were grouped by dimension. This change in item presentation was conceived as an efficient way of facilitating responses as a result of a clear understanding of what the items related to each dimension are attempting to measure. The following battery of measures was administered: the CERQ, the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Four models of the CERQ structure were examined and confirmatory factor analyses supported the original factor model, consisting of nine factors—Self-blame, Acceptance, Rumination, Positive refocusing, Refocus on planning, Positive reappraisal, Putting into perspective, Catastrophizing, and Other-blame. There was minimal overlap between CERQ subscales and their internal consistency was adequate. Correlational and regression analyses supported the construct validity of the CERQ. Our findings indicate that the CERQ (items-grouped version) is a sound instrument for assessing cognitive emotion regulation in patients with FMS.

Previous studies during the Covid-19 pandemic reported particularly high prevalence of anxiety and depression among university students, suggesting that they can be a vulnerable group at greater risk than the general population for developing psychological disorders in situations of confinement. However, the impact varied between countries and individuals, concluding that sociocultural and individual differences could condition this impact. Based on this evidence, the psychological impact of the pandemic on Ibero-American students was investigated. A battery of questionnaires was administered to a large sample of 7601 university students (72% female) from six different Spanish-speaking countries: Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, and Uruguay and were compared with a sample of general population (n = 51211). Descriptive analyses indicated a high prevalence (46.15%) of distress among university students, independent of country and significantly higher than in general population (28.27%). Greater feelings of loneliness and greater neuroticism were significantly associated with anxiety, depression, and somatisation. Likewise, male gender and higher levels of resilience resulted as protective factors, while posttraumatic growth was also higher in men and was associated with higher levels of resilience, perceived competence, and responsibility. The data suggest the need to consider individual risk factors such as being a woman, presenting higher levels of neuroticism and loneliness in understanding the psychological impact of the pandemic in university students. It is concluded that universities should offer specific interventions to address mental health problems, complementary to the health system of each country to manage the added complications of the crisis events on students’ mental health.

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