Reliability and validity of the brief version of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale in a sample of Turkish adolescents

BACKGROUND: Difficulty in regulating emotions increases during adolescence and can be associated with psychopathology. It is thus crucial to develop tools to identify adolescents at risk of having emotional difficulties. This study aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of a brief questionnaire in a sample of Turkish adolescents. METHODS: A total of 256 participants (mean age = 15.51 ± 0.85) were recruited. They completed the original form of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-36), a brief version of DERS (DERS-16), the Barrett Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). Psychometric properties of DERS-16 were investigated by confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, and Pearson correlational analysis. RESULTS: A five-factor model and second-order bifactor model of DERS-16 were confirmed. Cronbach’s alpha values for the subscales varied between 0.69 and 0.88, while the reliability of the factors Difficulties in Emotional Processing and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation were 0.75 and 0.90, respectively. DERS-16 subscales were positively correlated with the BIS-11 and TAS. In addition, there were only minimal differences between the DERS-16 and DERS-36. CONCLUSION: The DERS-16 is a valid and reliable scale for Turkish adolescents. The fact that it has fewer items than DERS-36, but has similar reliability and validity and can be used as two factors, provides significant advantages in terms of applicability.