A Factor Analytic Evaluation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

The present study aimed to elucidate the factor structure of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004)-a widely used measure of emotion dysregulation.

Participants were 3 undergraduate samples (N = 840, 78.33% female, mean age = 20.30).

We began by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine 3 existing models, finding that none consistently demonstrated adequate fit across samples. Subsequently, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis, identifying a novel 5-factor model that consistently resulted in adequate fit across samples. We also ran several CFA models after removing the Awareness subscale items-which have performed inconsistently in prior research-finding that a reduced-measure variant of the model retained by Gratz and Roemer (2004) resulted in adequate fit across samples. No higher-order models consistently resulted in adequate fit across samples.

Our findings are consistent with previous work in suggesting use of a DERS total score may not be appropriate. Additionally, further work is needed to examine the novel 5-factor model and the effect of reverse-scored items on the DERS factor structure.