(PS7-37) Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale in Youth with Anorexia Nervosa

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a 36-item self-report questionnaire measuring individuals (in)ability to be aware of, understand, accept, and modulate their emotional arousal to achieve self-directed goals. Measurement of emotion regulation may be particularly useful in eating disorder populations where negative affect is one of the most regularly cited risk and maintenance factors for disordered eating. Prior factor analyses have supported the construct validity of both the 16 and 36-item versions of the DERS in healthy adults and those with an eating disorder. However, despite common use of the DERS in adolescent samples, its factor structure has not been fully explored in a sample of adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Methods: Our sample comprised 167 youth (M age = 14.6 years, SD = 1.8) with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa presenting to an academic medical center for treatment of their eating disorder. The sample had a mean BMI z-score of –0.7 (SD = 0.9) and were predominantly cisgender female (88%), White (86%) and non-Hispanic (92%). At presentation, patients reported mean duration of illness as 12.7 months (SD = 10.2). Patients completed the DERS at baseline as part of a larger battery of questionnaires including the Eating Disorders Examination – Questionnaire (EDE-Q). We examined the factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the DERS-36.

Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original six-factor structure of the DERS-36, with the factors accounting for 68% of total item variance. Internal consistency of subscales ranged from good to excellent (a = .87-92), except for the Goals subscale which demonstrated poor consistency. Internal consistency for the total scale was also good, with Cronbach’s a = .84. Scores on the DERS-36 demonstrated significant positive association with scores on the EDE-Q (r = .46, p < .001), although it scores were not associated with other markers of illness severity such as duration of illness and BMI z-score.

Discussion: Our results support the overall psychometric properties of the 36-item DERS in youth with anorexia nervosa. Given the important role of emotion dysregulation in the etiology of anorexia nervosa, the measure may be useful in both clinical and research settings.