The internal moderation questionnaire (IMQ): a novel measure of self-regulation

Abstract

Internal moderation is theorized as a regulatory mental mechanism that mitigates the impact of incongruent stimuli by generating a calibrated internal response. The aim of this study was to develop a standardized self-report instrument designed to measure an individual's current level of internal moderation. An initial version of the Internal Moderation Questionnaire (IMQ), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-33) were applied to 329 college students. A test-retest evaluation was conducted on a separate group of 50 college students with two administrations in a 7-day interval. Reliability and validity analyses yielded a 24-item final version of the questionnaire with excellent internal consistency. The IMQ demonstrated strong to moderate correlations with DES and DERS total scores, while its association with CTQ-33 total scores was rather minimal. In principal components analysis, a three-factor solution yielded the "dual," "on," and "off" modes of internal moderation. Higher scores on these modes, and in particular the dual mode score, which represented the largest proportion of the total variance, and the sum of the on and off scores were associated with higher disturbance overall, while the difference between them was not. This preliminary study supported the validity and reliability of the IMQ in a self-referred non-clinical sample of young adults. Further studies on larger, diverse, and clinical samples should identify its significance in detection of prodromal risk syndromes, assessment of treatment response, forensic evaluations, prediction of self-destruction and impulsivity, and decision-making in uncertain conditions.