Self‐reported emotion regulation difficulties in psychosis: Psychometric properties of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS‐16)

Abstract

Objective: Individuals with psychosis self-report difficulties in understanding, relating, and responding to emotions as treatment priorities, yet we lack comprehensive, reliable, and valid assessments for routine clinical use. Methods: The psychometric properties of a brief version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-16 (DERS-16) were examined using anonymized data from a sample of 150 outpatients with psychosis. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the fivefactor structure of the DERS-16. The model fit was further improved by omitting two items. Measurement invariance was shown with respect to age and gender. The DERS-16 demonstrated good internal consistency, well comparable to the original DERS. Evidence toward convergent validity is also presented. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the DERS-16 is a reliable and valid measure of self-reported emotion regulation difficulties in individuals with psychosis. Further research on the clinical utility of the DERS-16 is needed, including examination of its test-retest reliability and predictive validity in response to targeted interventions.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Managing emotions in psychosis: Evaluation of a brief DBT‐informed skills group for individuals with psychosis in routine community services

“…Higher scores reflect greater ER difficulties. It demonstrates good internal consistency, test–retest reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and responsiveness to ER interventions in various samples, and its internal consistency and convergent validity are supported with individuals in psychosis (Lawlor, Vitoratou, Hepworth, & Jolley, 2021).…”

The Relationship of Hedonic Hunger and Night-Eating Symptoms with Difficulties in Emotion Regulation in Young Adults

“…Tis study discovered a signifcant negative correlation, with a 6.5% decrease in DERS-16 scores as age increased. Studies in the literature have shown that DER tends to decrease with age [30,31] while others have suggested that age is not a distinguishing factor in emotion regulation [32,33]. Te observed decrease in DER scores with age could potentially be attributed to increased life experience and maturity, which contribute to better emotional control.…”

Emotion regulation and self-stigma among people with schizophrenia: The mediating role of depression.

“…Individuals with psychosis, as compared to nonclinical controls, report difficulties in identifying, understanding, and accepting their emotions, engaging in goal-directed behavior, and being willing to experience negative emotions in the pursuit of meaningful activities (Lawlor et al, 2021). In addition, it has been found that people with schizophrenia have difficulty controlling impulses when experiencing negative emotions and accepting emotional responses (Moritz et al, 2010; O’Driscoll et al, 2014; van der Meer et al, 2014; Westermann & Lincoln, 2011).…”