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A Factor Analytic Evaluation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale
Author(s) -
Lee Daniel J.,
Witte Tracy K.,
Bardeen Joseph R.,
Davis Margaret T.,
Weathers Frank W.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22297
Subject(s) - psychology , confirmatory factor analysis , exploratory factor analysis , psychometrics , scale (ratio) , clinical psychology , factor analysis , structural equation modeling , developmental psychology , social psychology , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Objectives 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. Method Participants were 3 undergraduate samples (N = 840, 78.33% female, mean age = 20.30). Results 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. Conclusions 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.