The perceived invalidation of emotion scale (PIES) in a Portuguese sample: a psychometric evaluation and an item response theory analysis

Emotion invalidation is thought to play an important role on individuals’ psychological functioning. However, available studies have been assessing emotion invalidation with instruments that focus on past invalidation or on invalidation in general (i.e., not focused on emotion issues). Recently, the Perceived Invalidation of Emotion Scale (PIES) was developed to address this gap. This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the PIES in a Portuguese sample. The PIES was administered to 234 adults from the community (mean age = 37.10 years; SD = 12.86). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory (IRT) analysis were used to examine the psychometric properties of the PIES. The CFA confirmed the unifactorial structure of the 10-item scale. IRT showed that all items were moderately to highly discriminant, except item 2. Support was found for internal consistency as well as for convergent construct. Specifically, the PIES was positively associated with attachment anxiety and avoidance, and emotion suppression, but negatively associated with emotion communication. It was also positively associated with depression, anxiety and stress. The PIES can be considered a good scale to assess emotion invalidation in the Portuguese sample.