Development and Validation of a Brief Version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale: The DERS-16

Overview

Journal J Psychopathol Behav Assess

Publisher Springer

Specialty Psychology

Date 2016 May 31

PMID 27239096

Citations 307

Authors

Johan Bjureberg

Brjann Ljotsson

Matthew T Tull

Erik Hedman

Hanna Sahlin

Lars-Gunnar Lundh

Jonas Bjarehed

David DiLillo

Terri Messman-Moore

Clara Hellner Gumpert

Kim L Gratz

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a widely-used, theoretically-driven, and psychometrically-sound self-report measure of emotion regulation difficulties. However, at 36-items, the DERS may be challenging to administer in some situations or settings (e.g., in the course of patient care or large-scale epidemiological studies). Consequently, there is a need a briefer version of the DERS. The goal of the present studies was to develop and evaluate a 16-item version of the DERS - the DERS-16. The reliability and validity of the DERS-16 were examined in a clinical sample (N = 96) and two large community samples (Ns = 102 and 482). The validity of the DERS-16 was evaluated comparing the relative strength of the association of the two versions of the DERS with measures of emotion regulation and related constructs, psychopathology, and clinically-relevant behaviors theorized to stem from emotion regulation deficits. Results demonstrate that the DERS-16 has retained excellent internal consistency, good test-retest reliability, and good convergent and discriminant validity. Further, the DERS-16 showed minimal differences in its convergent and discriminant validity with relevant measures when compared to the original DERS. In conclusion, the DERS-16 offers a valid and brief method for the assessment of overall emotion regulation difficulties.

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