Validation of the Arabic Version of the Eight-Item Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-8 (DERS-8) in Egypt

Brief measures of emotion regulation difficulties are useful in survey-based research and screening, yet evidence for Arabic ultra-brief tools remains limited. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-8 (DERS-8) in an Arabic-speaking sample from Egypt.

A cross-sectional, internet-based survey was completed by 603 university students (mean age = 19.58 years; 62.7% female). Participants completed the Arabic DERS-8 alongside measures of psychological distress (PHQ-4) and perceived social support (MSPSS). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested the hypothesized one-factor structure. Internal consistency was examined using Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω. Measurement invariance across gender was evaluated using multigroup CFA (configural, metric, and scalar), followed by independent-samples t tests. Construct validity was tested via associations with anxiety, depression and social support.

The one-factor model showed acceptable fit, and model fit improved after allowing a theoretically plausible correlated residual between two items (final fit: robust RMSEA = 0.071 [90% CI 0.047, 0.096], SRMR = 0.032, robust CFI = 0.974, robust TLI = 0.962). Reliability was adequate (ω = 0.85; α = 0.85). The DERS-8 demonstrated metric and scalar invariance across gender and total scores did not differ significantly between males and females. Higher DERS-8 scores were associated with greater anxiety (r = 0.58) and depression (r = 0.55) and with lower perceived social support (r = -0.31) with all p < 0.001.

The Arabic DERS-8 appears to be a brief, reliable and valid measure of overall emotion regulation difficulties for use in non-clinical adults in Egypt, supporting its use in community-based research and screening contexts.