Objective: Emotion regulation is a central construct for the study of mental health in adolescence. Although the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) has been vastly used, several issues remain unanswered (e.g., factor structure/dimensionality). This study aimed to validate the 36-items DERS in a sample of 989 Portuguese community adolescent (460 boys; 529 girls; age ranged from 14 to 18).
Method: A bifactor-ESEM model, comprising a general and six specific factors (nonacceptance; goals; impulses; strategies; clarity; awareness) was explored and considered the best fitting model.
Results: Gender measurement invariance was established. When compared with boys, although differences were small in magnitude, girls presented higher emotion regulation difficulties. Evidence for reliability and construct/temporal validity were found, and significant associations between the DERS and physiological measures of emotion regulation (i.e., Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability) were established.
Conclusion: Findings support the use of the DERS in adolescent samples.
Keywords: Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS); adolescence; bifactor-ESEM; heart rate variability.
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