Criterion versus construct validity for the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale: Meta-analytic relationships with dimensions of psychopathology and emotion dysregulation

Emotion dysregulation is associated with an increased risk of multiple mental disorders. However, its conceptualization remains unclear, with limited consensus on its components. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale is often used to assess emotion dysregulation, but few studies have rigorously assessed its validity. This synthesis aims to gather and differentiate the criterion (e.g., relationships with psychopathology) and construct (e.g., relationships with dimensions of emotion dysregulation) validity evidence for the DERS. The first 10 years of publications citing the DERS (2004-2014; 381 articles) were reviewed and meta-analysis was used to summarize the relationships between the DERS total score and 10 dimensions of psychopathology symptoms and 10 dimensions of emotion dysregulation. Relationships with DERS subscales were also explored and publication bias was assessed. The total DERS score showed moderate to strong associations with nearly all symptom (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma, etc.) and emotion dysregulation dimensions (e.g., distress tolerance, experiential avoidance, mindfulness). Subscale findings were similar, but with more variability and fewer significant effects for the emotion dysregulation dimensions. Overall, we found strong evidence for criterion validity using the DERS. We found good evidence of DERS construct validity in that it is associated with several dimensions related to difficulties in regulating emotions. Finally, we found evidence that the DERS may measure aspects of emotion dysregulation not covered by its original model. More work on refining emotion dysregulation as a construct is needed. Future research should explore additional constructs from the emotion dysregulation literature and focus on subscale-level analysis.