Emotional arousal and regulation: Further evidence of the validity of the "How I Feel" Questionnaire for use with school-age children

The ability to understand and manage emotional experience is critical to children’s school health. This study confirmed the validity of the How I Feel (HIF) Questionnaire, a measure of children’s emotional arousal and regulation, exploring its associations with other measures of emotional and social functioning. The sample was comprised of 1379 Italian students (aged 8 to 12 years) who attended schools interested in the study aims. Participants completed the 30-item HIF scale, and measures of emotional self-efficacy and social desirability. Factor structures were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Invariance by age and gender, internal consistency, temporal stability and concurrent validity were also tested. A 3-factor model was identified: frequency and intensity of positive emotion – PE (8 items, α =.82), negative emotion – NE (12 items, α =.86), and positive and negative emotion control – EC (10 items, α = .77). This factor structure was invariant across age and gender groups. The HIF displayed moderate longitudinal stability over a 15-month period and a low social desirability effect. Positive emotion was positively associated with acceptance and visibility, and negatively with social withdrawal. The HIF is a reliable and a valid measure for research and school intervention promoting students’ emotional and mental health.