The Adaptation of the Regret Elements Scale to Turkish Culture

Abstract

Humans feel the need to reflect on their past decisions throughout their lives. Regret plays a significant role in this evaluation. Acknowledging regret is crucial, as it helps in rectifying undesirable past decisions and making healtier options in the future. Regret has cognitive and affective dimentions. Cognitive regret refers to reviewing past decisions, while affective regret belong to negative emotions. This study aims to adapt the regret elements scale (RES) in the Turkish adult population. The study involved 48 participants in the pilot application stage, 40 participants in the language validity stage, 599 participants in the confirmatory factor analysis stage, and 52 participants in the test-retest stage. The participants' ages ranged from 18 to 60 years. The study examined the language validity, confirmatory factor analysis, and criterion-related validity of the scale. Additionally, reliability measures such as Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient, Spearman-Brown split-half reliability, test-retest reliability coefficient, and differences between the 27% lower and upper groups were utilized. Mean explained variance (AVE) and combined reliability (CR) values were also calculated. The findings indicate that the language validity of the scale was high (.80). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the 2-dimensional and 10-item scale had acceptable fit indices [x2 / df= 2.09, RMSEA= .043, SRMR= .07, NNFI /TLI = .91, CFI= .94, GFI= .92]. The scale and its sub-dimensions were negatively correlated with Satisfaction with Life. Reliability analyses found high Cronbach's Alpha reliability (.92), Spearman-Brown split-half reliability (.95), and test-retest reliability (.75) coefficients, as well as significant differences between the regret score averages of the lower and upper groups of 27%. The AVE and CR values of the scale were also high. The findings suggest that the 2-dimensional (affective regret and cognitive regret) and 10-item RES is a valid and reliable measuring tool for assessing regret in the field of mental health for adult individuals in Turkey. Overall, the RES can be considered a useful tool for measuring regret and its various dimensions. It is thought that the adaptation of the regret elements scale (RES), which includes these dimentions, will contribute to the literature.

Keywords

• Regret
• affective regret
• cognitive regret
• scale adaptation
• validity and reliability

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