DERS

Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

Measure Overview
Measure Details

Overview

Description:

A 36-item self-reported questionnaire to provide a comprehensive measure of the difficulties in emotion regulation in adults and adolescents. The six dimension include "(a) lack of awareness of emotional responses, (b) lack of clarity of emotional responses, (c) nonacceptance of emotional responses, (d) limited access to emotion regulation strategies perceived as effective, (e) difficulties controlling impulses when experiencing negative emotions, and (f) difficulties engaging in goal-directed behaviors when experiencing negative emotions." (Gratz & Roemer, 2004)

Author(s):

Gratz KL, Roemer L

Constructs:

Nonacceptance of emotional response, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, impulse control difficulties, lack of emotional awareness, limited access to emotion regulation, and lack of emotional clarity.

Recall Period:

Not Specified

Age Group:

Adults

Adolescents

Assessed By:

Self

Publications

Validation Publications:

Ruganci NR, Gençöz T. "Psychometric properties of a Turkish version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale." J Clin Psychol. 2010;66(4):442-55.

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Open Abstract

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; developed by Gratz & Roemer, 2004) in a Turkish sample. For this purpose, first, the factor structure of the scale was examined with a sample of 338 university students, and an identical factor structure with the original scale was obtained with the exclusion of a single item. Following the confirmation of the 6-factor structure of the scale with the current Turkish sample, the whole scale's and its six subscales' reliability coefficients were examined via internal consistency and test-retest reliability coefficients. These reliability analyses indicated satisfactory coefficients. As for the concurrent validity, the correlations of DERS and its subscales with measures of psychological distress were examined. This examination generally revealed strong correlations, although the awareness factor of DERS had relatively weaker correlations with the measures of psychological distress. Finally, concerning the criterion validity, all the measures of DERS could significantly differentiate the participants with "high psychological distress" from those with "low psychological distress"; however, for the awareness subscale the effect size was small. These findings were discussed in line with the relevant literature.

Weinberg A, Klonsky DE. "Measurement of emotion dysregulation in adolescents." Psychol Assess. 2009;21(4):616-21.

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Open Abstract

The construct of emotion dysregulation increasingly has been used to explain diverse psychopathologies across the lifespan. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; K. L. Gratz & L. Roemer, 2004) represents the most comprehensive measure of the construct to date and exhibits good reliability and validity in adults; however, the measure has yet to be tested in adolescents. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the DERS in a community sample of 428 adolescents (ages 13-17 years). Exploratory factor analysis supported a 6-factor structure consistent with the 6 DERS subscales. Internal consistencies for the subscales were good to excellent (alphas ranged from .76 to .89). In support of the measure's construct validity, the DERS exhibited robust correlations with psychological problems reflecting emotion dysregulation, specifically depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, alcohol use, and drug use. Intercorrelations among the DERS subscales ranged from negligible to high (range: r = .04 to r = .68), and potential problems with discriminant validity were noted. In general, results support the reliability and validity of the DERS as a measure of emotion dysregulation in adolescents.

Review Publications:

Staples AM, Mohlman J. "Psychometric properties of the GAD-Q-IV and DERS in older, community-dwelling GAD patients and controls." Journal of anxiety disorders. 2012;26(3):385-392.

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Open Abstract

Thirty-seven community-dwelling, older generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients and 37 nonanxious controls completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire for DSM-IV (GAD-Q-IV; Newman et al., 2002), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), and other measures of anxiety and depression. The GAD-Q-IV and DERS were assessed for internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and test-retest reliability, with results indicating good psychometric performance. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis conducted on the full sample suggested that the optimal GAD-Q-IV cutoff for classifying GAD cases was 3.71, with .97 sensitivity and .92 specificity. The cutoff score for classifying those participants with GAD and comorbid conditions was higher, however. ROC analysis with the full sample revealed an optimal DERS cutoff score of 62.5, with .76 sensitivity and .86 specificity. Findings support the use of the GAD-Q-IV and DERS as screening instruments for GAD in older, community-dwelling adults in a research setting.

Details

Internal Consistency:

Not Available

Test-retest Reliability:

Not Available

Intra-interviewer Reliability:

Not Available

Inter-interviewer Reliability:

Not Available

Discriminant Validity:

Not Available

Convergent Validity:

Not Available

Known Groups Validity:

Not Available

Criterion Validity:

Not Available

Responsiveness:

Not Available

DERS

Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

Overview

Publications

Details

Related Topics

DERS

Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

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