Abstract

MARIN TEJEDA, Miguel; ROBLES GARCIA, Rebeca; GONZALEZ-FORTEZA, Catalina  and  ANDRADE PALOS, Patricia. Psychometric properties of the "Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale" in spanish (DERS-E) in Mexican adolescents. Salud Ment [online]. 2012, vol.35, n.6, pp.521-526. ISSN 0185-3325.

Introduction Emotional Dysregulation (ED) is the decreased capacity to experiment and differentiate an ample range of emotions, as well as to monitor, evaluate and modify intense emotional states. ED is associated with the most frequent emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, and with maladaptive behaviors thought to serve an emotion and impulsivity regulating function, including deliberate self-harm. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) was developed for adults, has good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.93), and good test-retest reliability (r=0.88). Objectives To translate and determine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the DERS (DERS-E) in a nonclinical Mexican adolescent's sample. Method 455 students of a public junior high school in Mexico City participated; the mean age was 13.1 ±.95 years old. The scale was administrated in groups of 40 students, who concurrently answered the Spanish version of the following measures: i) Self-injury Schedule; ii) Beck Depression Inventory; and iii) Plutchik's Impulsivity Scale. Results The first confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) showed that the data did not replicate the original six-factor structure with 36 items (χ²=22339.4, df= 6, p<0.05). An exploratory factorial analysis showed that the data adjusted with a 24 items and 4-factor model (corroborated with a second CFA: χ²=259.729, df=230, p>0.05); the subscales Cronbach' a were from .85 to .68. The validity through contrasted groups and the correlation with concurrent scales showed significant results (Pearson's r of .51 to .76, p<0.05). Conclusions The DERS-E with adolescents did not replicate the factorial structure of the original scale, but showed a similar and multidimensional structure of four factors and showed good psychometric properties with respect to internal consistency and concurrent validity.

Keywords : Adolescents; deliberate self-harm; depression; emotion dysregulation; measurement.

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