Table of Contents
Instructions:
Please press the response that is most true for you.
| Almost Never | Sometimes | About half the time | Most of the time | Almost always | ||
|
|
I am clear about my feeling | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| I pay attention to how I feel | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| I experience my emotions as overwhelming and out of control | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| I have no idea how I am feeling | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| I have difficulty making sense out of my feelings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| I am attentive to my feelings | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| I know exactly how I am feeling | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| I care about what I am feeling | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| I am confused about how I feel | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I acknowledge my emotions | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| When I’m upset, I become angry with myself for feeling that way | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I become embarrassed for feeling that way | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I have difficulty getting work done | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I become out of control | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I believe that I will remain that way for a long time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I believe that I’ll end up feeling very depressed | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I believe that my feelings are valid and important | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Almost Never | Sometimes | About half the time | Most of the time | Almost always | ||
| When I’m upset, I have difficulty focusing on other things | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I feel out of control | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I can still get things done | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| When I’m upset, I feel ashamed with myself for feeling that way | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I know that I can find a way to eventually feel better | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| When I’m upset, I feel like I am weak | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I feel like I can remain in control of my behaviours | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| When I’m upset, I feel guilty for feeling that way | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I have difficulty concentrating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I have difficulty controlling my behaviours | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I believe that there is nothing I can do to make myself feel better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I become irritated with myself for feeling that way | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I start to feel very bad about myself | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I believe that wallowing in it is all I can do | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I lose control over my behaviours | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, I have difficulty thinking about anything else | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset I take time to figure out what I’m really feeling. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| When I’m upset, it takes me a long time to feel better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| When I’m upset, my emotions feel overwhelming | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
Description
The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a instrument measuring emotion regulation problems. The 36 items ask the respondent to rate themselves on how they relate to their emotions. This tool can be especially useful in helping patients identify areas for growth in how they respond to their emotions, especially those with Borderline Personality Disorder, Generalised Anxiety Disorder or Substance Use Disorder. This scale measures an integrative conceptualization of emotion regulation as involving not just the modulation of emotional arousal, but also the awareness, understanding, and acceptance of emotions, and the ability to act in desired ways regardless of emotional state. Given that successful emotion regulation is a key aspect of personal well-being, difficulties in emotion regulation are theorised to be a transdiagnostic risk for the onset and maintenance of psychopathological disorders. The scale has the following subscales: 1. Nonacceptance of emotional responses 2. Difficulty engaging in Goal-directed behaviour 3. Impulse control difficulties 4. Lack of emotional awareness 5. Limited access to emotion regulation strategies 6. Lack of emotional clarity
Validity and Reliability
In a sample of undergraduate students (Gratz & Roemer, 2003) found that the DERS had high internal consistency, good test–retest reliability, and adequate construct and predictive validity. Based on a sample of 427 adults presenting at an outpatient clinic diagnosed with one or more DSM-5 disorder, Hallion et al. (2018) found that the DERS has good internal consistency, particularly when the Awareness subscale is excluded, indicating that Awareness may be a seperate construct. The means and standard deviations for the same sample are presented below. – Total M = 89.33, SD = 22.64 – Non-acceptance M = 14.67, SD = 5.92 – Goals M = 15.42, SD = 4.215 – Impulse M = 12.58, SD = 4.97 – Awareness M = 15.55, SD = 4.92 – Strategies M = 19.67, SD = 7.31 – Clarity M = 12.01, SD = 4.04
Interpretation
Higher scores suggest greater problems with emotion regulation. Scores are presented as a total score as well as a score for each of the 6 subscales. Scores are also presented as a percentile rank, which compares the scores against adults seeking outpatient psychological therapy (Hallion et al., 2018). A percentile of 50 indicates typical scores in comparison to others presenting for treatment, with high (more severe) scores being predictive of bigger treatment gains from CBT. 1. Nonacceptance of emotional responses: 11, 12, 21, 23, 25, 29 2. Difficulty engaging in goal-directed behaviour: 13, 18, 20R, 26, 33 3. Impulse control difficulties: 3, 14, 19, 24R, 27, 32 4. Lack of emotional awareness: 2R, 6R, 8R, 10R, 17R, 34R 5. Limited access to emotion regulation strategies: 15, 16, 22R, 28, 30, 31, 35, 36 6. Lack of emotional clarity: 1R, 4, 5, 7R, 9
Developer
Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment, 26(1), 41-54.
Number Of Questions
36
References
Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment, 26(1), 41-54.
Hallion, L. S., Steinman, S. A., Tolin, D. F., & Diefenbach, G. J. (2018). Psychometric properties of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and its short forms in adults with emotional disorders. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 539.
This content is licensed under a CC-BY license. The CC-BY licenses grant rights of use the scales in your studies (the measurement instrument and its documentation), but do not replace copyright. This remains with the copyright holder, and you have to cite us as the source.
Mohammed Looti, PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES (2023) Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/difficulties-in-emotion-regulation-scale-ders-2/. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31575.96163