Development of the DERS-20 among the Italian population: a study for a short form of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

Abstract

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) (Gratz & Roemer 2004) is one of the most widely used measures to investigate individual differences in the ability to identify, accept and manage emotional experiences. This scale facilitates the understanding of the disorders underlying emotional dysregulation. However, its length may require a shorter version to create more flexible study protocols. The original scale has demonstrated good psychometric properties and has been shown to be a useful measurement instrument for emotion regulation. For this reason, i.e., to develop a short form, in Study 1, an Italian version of the DERS-36 (Sighinolfi et al., 2010) was administered to n = 520 subjects. Based on the strongest items from the six-factor structure, a 20-item form of the DERS was obtained, and reliability analysis showed good results both on scales and factors. In Study 2 , the DERS-20 was administered to n = 262 subjects who also completed the DERS-36, the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the Positive And Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to examine the construct validity. These findings replicate the good results of Study 1 and confirm the reliability and validity of the DERS-20 construction.