Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form (DERS-16)-Chinese Version

Description

Emotion regulation can provide individuals with information related to their environment. Besides playing an important role in protecting individuals’ emotional balance, it is also one of the key indicators of psychological health. When individuals experience difficulties in emotion regulation, they are more likely to feel stressed and develop psychological or mental illnesses. Disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, substance dependence, social anxiety, borderline personality disorder, and depression in college students are all associated with difficulties in emotion regulation. Therefore, difficulties in emotion regulation hold significant research value in clinical contexts.

Authors and Contact Email

Bjureberg et al. (2016)

Purpose

To assess the level of difficulties in emotion regulation.

Test Year

2016

Administration Method and Scoring

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale – Short Version (DERS-16) comprises 16 items assessing the level of difficulties in emotion regulation, which are categorized into five dimensions:
1. 不接受负面情绪 (Non-acceptance of negative emotions)
2. 无法实施目标行为 (Inability to engage in goal-directed behavior)
3. 难以控制冲动行为 (Difficulty in engaging in impulse control)
4. 缺乏情绪调节策略 (Lack of emotion regulation strategies)
5. 情绪理解能力缺失 (Lack of emotional awareness)

The items are scored using a Likert 5-point scale, where:
1 = 几乎没有 (Almost never)
2 = 偶尔 (Occasionally)
3 = 大约一半时间 (About half the time)
4 = 大部分时间 (Most of the time)
5 = 几乎总是 (Almost always)

A higher score indicates a lower level of emotional regulation.

Reliability and Validity

In Wang’s study, the internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability of the scale were 0.91 and 0.90, respectively. In Yin’s research, the overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.93, with specific dimensions as follows:
-不接受负面情绪 (Non-acceptance of negative emotions) Cronbach’sα = 0.77
-无法实施目标行为 (Inability to engage in goal-directed behavior) Cronbach’s α = 0.84
-难以控制冲动行为 (Difficulty in engaging in impulse control) Cronbach’s α = 0.86
-缺乏情绪调节策略 (Lack of emotion regulation strategies) Cronbach’s α = 0.86
-情绪理解能力缺失 (Lack of emotional awareness) Cronbach’s α = 0.78

Factors and Subscales

The scale includes five factors that assess specific aspects of difficulties in emotion regulation.

Keywords

Emotion regulation, psychological health, DERS-16, mental illness, reliability

Items in Chinese

（1）当我感觉沮丧时，我会因为这样的感受而内疚。
（2）当我感觉沮丧时，我会因为这样的感受而生自己的气。
（3）当我感觉沮丧时，我感到自己很软弱。
（4）当我感觉沮丧时，我很难将心思放在其他事情上。
（5）当我感觉沮丧时，我很难完成手上的事情。
（6）当我感觉沮丧时，我很难思考任何事情。
（7）当我感觉沮丧时，我很难掌控自己的行为。
（8）当我感觉沮丧时，我的情绪会失控。
（9）当我感觉沮丧时，我感觉自己的行为会失控。
（10）当我感觉沮丧时，我总是认为自己迟早会陷入忧郁状态。
（11）当我感觉沮丧时，我总是认为这种状态会持续很长时间。
（12）当我感觉沮丧时，我总是找不到办法使自己感觉变好。
（13）当我感觉沮丧时，我的情绪是极其强烈，难以抗拒的。
（14）当我感觉沮丧时，我会觉得自己很差劲。
（15）我很难弄清楚自己的感受是怎样的。
（16）我常常不明白自己为什么会有某种感受。

Items in English

(1) When I feel down, I feel guilty about this feeling.
(2) When I feel down, I get angry at myself for having such feelings.
(3) When I feel down, I feel weak.
(4) When I feel down, I find it hard to focus on other things.
(5) When I feel down, I have difficulty completing tasks at hand.
(6) When I feel down, I struggle to think about anything.
(7) When I feel down, I find it hard to control my behavior.
(8) When I feel down, my emotions feel out of control.
(9) When I feel down, I find my behavior is out of control.
(10) When I feel down, I always think I will eventually get depressed.
(11) When I feel down, I always think that this state will last a long time.
(12) When I feel down, I can’t find a way to feel better.
(13) When I feel down, my emotions are extremely intense and hard to resist.
(14) When I feel down, I feel like I am a loser.
(15) I find it hard to figure out what my feelings are.
(16) I often don’t understand why I have certain feelings.

References

Bjureberg et al. (2016)