Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

DERS; Difficulties in emotion regulation scale; Emotion regulation difficulties scales

Introduction

Emotion regulation is a key process aimed to answer flexibly to environmental requests and challenges in a vital way for adaptation. It is a multidimensional process that comprehends monitoring, evaluation, and behavioral modification of psychophysical states (Thompson and Calkins 1996). Research has shown that individuals differ in their habitual use of emotion regulation strategies, and that these differences have consequences for multiple domains of psychological adjustment (Balzarotti et al. 2016). However, in relevant clinical condition, the capacity to regulate emotions appears to be critically compromised (Garofalo and Velotti 2015).

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer 2004) is a self-report measure that evaluates individuals’ levels of difficulties in regulating emotions. The instrument presents 36-item on a 5-point Likert scale of...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Balzarotti, S., Biassoni, F., Villani, D., Prunas, A., & Velotti, P. (2016). Individual differences in cognitive emotion regulation: Implications for subjective and psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(1), 125–143. doi:10.1007/s10902-014-9587-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardeen, J., Fergus, T., & Orcutt, H. (2012). An examination of the latent structure of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 34, 382–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, R. W., & Trull, T. J. (2013). Components of emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder: A review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 15(1), 335.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Centifanti, L. C. M., Kimonis, E. R., Frick, P. J., & Aucoin, K. J. (2013). Emotional reactivity and the association between psychopathy-linked narcissism and aggression in detained adolescent boys. Development and Psychopathology, 25(2), 473–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contardi, A., Imperatori, C., Penzo, I., Del Gatto, C., & Farina, B. (2016). The association among difficulties in emotion regulation, hostility, and empathy in a sample of young Italian adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1068. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01068.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, J. C., Charak, R., Elhai, J. D., Allen, J. G., Frueh, B. C., & Oldham, J. M. (2014). Construct validity and factor structure of the difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale among adults with severe mental illness. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 58, 175–180. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.07.029.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, H. C., Axelrod, S. R., Paliwal, P., Sleeper, J., & Sinha, R. (2007). Difficulties in emotion regulation and impulse control during cocaine abstinence. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 89(2), 298–301.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garofalo, C., & Velotti, P. (2015). Alcohol misuse in psychiatric patients and nonclinical individuals: The role of emotion dysregulation and impulsivity. Addiction Research and Theory, 23(4), 294–300. doi:10.3109/16066359.2014.987758.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garofalo, C., Holden, C. J., Zeigler-Hill, V., & Velotti, P. (2016). Understanding the connection between self-esteem and aggression: The mediating role of emotion dysregulation. Aggressive Behavior, 42(1), 3–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2008). The relationship between emotion dysregulation and deliberate self-harm among female undergraduate students at an urban commuter university. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 37(1), 14–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gratz, K. L., Rosenthal, M. Z., Tull, M. T., Lejuez, C. W., & Gunderson, J. G. (2006). An experimental investigation of emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115, 850–855.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ives-Deliperi, V. L., Howells, F., Stein, D. J., Meintjes, E. M., & Horn, N. (2013). The effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in patients with bipolar disorder: A controlled functional MRI investigation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(3), 1152–1157.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Linehan, M. M., Heard, H. L., & Armstrong, H. E. (1993). Naturalistic follow-up of a behavioral treatment for chronically parasuicidal borderline patients. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50(12), 971–974.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Litt, L. C., Hien, D. A., & Levin, D. (2003). Adult antisocial behavior and affect regulation among primary crack/cocaine-using women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 27(2), 143–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medrano, L. A., & Trógolo, M. (2016). Construct validity of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale: Further evidence using confirmatory factor analytic approach. Abnormal and Behavioural Psychology, 2, 117. doi:10.4172/2472-0496.1000117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paret, C., Kluetsch, R., Zaehringer, J., Ruf, M., Demirakca, T., Bohus, M., … & Schmahl, C. (2016). Alterations of amygdala-prefrontal connectivity with real-time fMRI neurofeedback in BPD patients. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(6), 952–960.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Roll, J., Koglin, U., & Petermann, F. (2012). Emotion regulation and childhood aggression: Longitudinal associations. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 43, 909–923. doi:10.1007/s10578-012-0303-4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roemer, L., Lee, J. K., Salters-Pedneault, K., Erisman, S. M., Orsillo, S. M., & Mennin, D. S. (2009). Mindfulness and emotion regulation difficulties in generalized anxiety disorder: Preliminary evidence for independent and overlapping contributions. Behavior Therapy, 40(2), 142–154.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steenkamp, M. M., Litz, B. T., Hoge, C. W., & Marmar, C. R. (2015). Psychotherapy for military-related PTSD: A review of randomized clinical trials. JAMA, 314(5), 489–500.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R. A., & Calkins, S. D. (1996). The double-edged sword: Emotion regulation in high risk children. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 163–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uchida, M., Biederman, J., Gabrieli, J. D., Micco, J., de Los Angeles, C., Brown, A., … & Whitfield-Gabrieli, S. (2015). Emotion regulation ability varies in relation to intrinsic functional brain architecture. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(12), 1738–1748.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Velotti, P., & Garofalo, C. (2015). Personality styles in a non-clinical sample: The role of emotion dysregulation and impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 79, 44–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Giulia Perasso & Patrizia Velotti

  2. Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Patrizia Velotti

Authors
  1. Giulia Perasso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patrizia Velotti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giulia Perasso .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Patrizia Velotti

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Perasso, G., Velotti, P. (2017). Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_810-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_810-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation