Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Validation of a Brief Version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-18) in Five Samples

  • Published:
Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The field of affective clinical science has expanded dramatically over the past several decades (Rottenberg and Gross 2003; Tracy et al. 2014). An important part of this research is understanding emotion regulation and dysregulation, in particular, how individuals differ in their ability to identify, accept, and manage their emotional experiences. One of the most common and widely cited measures of emotion dysregulation is the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer 2004), which has been extensively used to facilitate understanding of how emotion dysregulation is associated with psychiatric symptoms, other emotion-related constructs, and treatment progress. While this scale has contributed greatly to our understanding of emotion regulation problems, its length makes its inclusion in brief study protocols difficult, limiting its utility and increasing participant burden. In order to address this issue, we developed a short form version of the DERS (DERS-18) composed of the strongest items from each of the measure’s six subscales from the original DERS publication (Gratz and Roemer 2004), and then validated this measure in five datasets that vary in age and sample type. Our results demonstrate that an 18-item short-form of the DERS exhibits a similar structure as the original 36-item DERS, demonstrates excellent reliability and validity, and performs similarly to the original DERS despite comprising half the items. The DERS-18 has the potential to improve and expand emotion regulation assessment while reducing demands on research participants.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. While this manuscript was under review, another short form of the DERS was published (DERS-SF; Kaufman et al. 2015). We, therefore, refer to our measure as the DERS-18 in order to distinguish the two novel forms of the DERS, which differ slightly in item selection, validation procedures, and sample types.

References

  • Bardeen, J. R., & Fergus, T. A. (2014). An examination of the incremental contribution of emotion regulation difficulties to health anxiety beyond specific emotion regulation strategies. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.03.002.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bardeen, J. R., Fergus, T. A., & Orcutt, H. K. (2012). An examination of the latent structure of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. doi:10.1007/s10862-012-9280-y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buhrmester, M., Kwang, T., & Gosling, D. (2011). Amazon’s mechanical turk: a new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data? Perspectives on Psychological Science. doi:10.1177/1745691610393980.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, A. L., Leung, D. W., & Lynch, T. R. (2008). Impulsivity and emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders, 22(2). doi:10.1521/pedi.2008.22.2.148.

  • Cho, Y., & Hong, S. (2013). The new factor structure of the korean version of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale (K-DERS) incorporating method factor. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. doi:10.1177/0748175613484033.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, J. L., O’Shea, A. E., Atkinson, M. J., & Wade, T. D. (2014). Examination of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale and its relation to disordered eating in a young female sample. International Journal of Eating Disorders. doi:10.1002/eat.22278.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Donahue, J. J., Goranson, A. C., McClure, K. S., & Van Male, L. M. (2014). Emotion dysregulation, negative affect, and aggression: a moderated, multiple mediator analysis. Personality and Individual Differences. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, J. C., Charak, R., Elhai, J. D., Allen, J. G., Frueh, B. C., & Oldham, J. M. (2014). Construct validity and factor structure of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale among adults with severe mental illness. Journal of Psychiatric Research. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.07.029.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin, J. C., Hessel, E. T., Aaron, R. V., Arthur, M. S., Heilbron, N., & Prinstein, M. J. (2010). The functions of nonsuicidal self-injury: support for cognitive-affective regulation and opponent processes from a novel psychophysiological paradigm. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. doi:10.1037/a0020896.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Galesic, M., & Bosnjak, M. (2009). Effects of questionnaire length on participation and indicators of response quality in a web survey. Public Opinion Quarterly. doi:10.1093/poq/nfp031.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giromini, L., Velotti, P., de Campora, G., Bonalume, L., & Cesare Zavattini, G. (2012). Cultural adaptation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale: reliability and validity of an italian version. Journal of Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1002/jclp.21876.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glenn, C. R., & Klonsky, E. D. (2009). Emotion dysregulation as a core feature of borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders. doi:10.1521/pedi.2009.23.1.20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glenn, C. R., & Klonsky, E. D. (2013). Nonsuicidal self-injury disorder: an empirical investigation in adolescent psychiatric patients. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. doi:10.1080/15374416.2013.79469.

  • Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. doi:10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gratz, K. L., Tull, M. T., & Levy, R. (2014). Randomized controlled trial and uncontrolled 9- month follow-up of an adjunctive emotion regulation group therapy for deliberate self-harm among women with borderline personality disorder. Psychological Medicine. doi:10.1017/S0033291713002134.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J., & Jazaieri, H. (2014). Emotion, emotion regulation, and psychopathology: an affective science perspective. Clinical Psychological Science. doi:10.1177/2167702614536164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joormann, J., & Vanderlind, M. (2014). Emotion regulation in depression: the role of biased cognition and reduced cognitive control. Clinical Psychological Science. doi:10.1177/2167702614536163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, E. A., Xia, M., Fosco, G., Yaptangco, M., Skidmore, C. R., & Crowell, S. E. (2015). The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form (DERS-SF): validation and replication in adolescent and adult samples. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. doi:10.1007/s10862-015-9529-3.

  • Klonsky, E. D., May, A. M., & Glenn, C. R. (2013). The relationship between nonsuicidal self-injury and attempted suicide: converging evidence from four samples. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. doi:10.1037/a0030278.

  • Kökönyei, G., Urbán, R., Reinhardt, M., Józan, A., & Demetrovics, Z. (2014). The difficulties in emotion regulation scale: factor structure in chronic pain patients. Journal of Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1002/jclp.22036.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mennin, D. S., McLaughlin, K. A., & Flanagan, T. J. (2009). Emotion regulation deficits in generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and their co-occurrence. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.04.006.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsopoulou, E., Kafetsios, K., Karademas, E., Papastefanakis, E., & Simos, P. G. (2013). The greek version of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale: testing the factor structure, reliability and validity in an adult community sample. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. doi:10.1007/s10862-012-9321-6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfohl, B., Blum, N., & Zimmerman, M. (1997). Structured interview for DSM-IV personality. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Racine, S. E., & Wildes, J. E. (2013). Emotion dysregulation and symptoms of anorexia nervosa: the unique roles of lack of emotional awareness and impulse control difficulties when upset. International Journal of Eating Disorders. doi:10.1002/eat.22145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roszkowski, M. J., & Bean, A. G. (1990). Believe it or not! Longer questionnaires have lower response rates. Journal of Business and Psychology. doi:10.1007/BF01013611.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rottenberg, J., & Gross, J. J. (2003). When emotion goes wrong: realizing the promise of affective science. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. doi:10.1093/clipsy.bpg012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruganci, R. N., & Gençöz, T. (2010). Psychometric properties of a turkish version of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1002/jclp.20665.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, L. N., Stepp, S. D., & Pilkonis, P. A. (2014). Prospective associations between features of borderline personality disorder, emotion dysregulation, and aggression. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment. doi:10.1037/per0000070.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, C., Steinberg, L., Temple, J., & Newlin, E. (2014). An 11-item measure to assess borderline traits in adolescents: refinement of the BPFSC using IRT. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment. doi:10.1037/per0000057.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staples, A. M., & Mohlman, J. (2012). Psychometric properties of the GAD-Q-IV and DERS in older, community-dwelling GAD patients and controls. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26(3). doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.01.005.

  • Tracy, J. L., Klonsky, E. D., & Proudfit, G. H. (2014). How affective science can inform clinical science: an introduction to the special series on emotions and psychopathology. Clinical Psychological Science. doi:10.1177/2167702614537627.

    Google Scholar 

  • Victor, S. E., & Klonsky, E. D. (2014). Daily emotion in non-suicidal self-injury. Journal of Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1002/jclp.22037.

  • Weinberg, A., & Klonsky, E. D. (2009). Measurement of emotion dysregulation in adolescents. Psychological Assessment. doi:10.1037/a0016669.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Vujanovic, A. A., Parachini, E. A., Boulanger, J. L., Frankenburg, F. R., & Hennen, J. (2003). A screening measure for BPD: the mclean screening instrument for borderline personality disorder (MSI-BPD). Journal of Personality Disorders. doi:10.1521/pedi.17.6.568.2535z.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T1Z4, Canada

    Sarah E. Victor & E. David Klonsky

Authors
  1. Sarah E. Victor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. David Klonsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah E. Victor.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Sarah E. Victor and E. David Klonsky declare that they have no conflicts of interestin the publication of this work.

Experiment Participants

All participants provided informed consent (adults) or assent (minors) prior to participation in the study. For minors, parent/guardian consent was also obtained. All study procedures were conducted in accordance with appropriate institutional ethical review boards.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Victor, S.E., Klonsky, E.D. Validation of a Brief Version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-18) in Five Samples. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 38, 582–589 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9547-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9547-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation