Factor Structure and Initial Validation of a Multidimensional Measure of Difficulties in the Regulation of Positive Emotions: The DERS-Positive.
The DERS-Positive gives you a quick, reliable way to measure how adults struggle with happy feelings.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a new self-report scale called the DERS-Positive. It asks adults how much trouble they have managing happy or excited feelings.
They ran a factor analysis on a large sample. The math showed three clear clusters of items that hang together.
What they found
The three clusters are: trouble keeping good feelings going, trouble calming down after excitement, and acting without thinking when happy.
All three clusters showed good internal consistency. The whole scale also linked up with other emotion measures in the expected way.
How this fits with other research
Engel-Yeger (2024) also built a three-factor adult self-report tool, but for sensory issues, not emotions. Both studies used the same factor-analysis recipe and reached the same clean three-factor result.
Dawson et al. (2000) and Drijver et al. (2025) did the same kind of factor work, yet they focused on adults with intellectual disability. Doughty et al. (2015) did not test that group, so you still need PIMRA or DIAB if your client has ID.
Frisch et al. (2014) made the EFORTS scale for kids. Their factor steps mirror the DERS-Positive steps, showing the same validation path works across age and topic.
Why it matters
You can now put a number on positive-emotion dysregulation. Use the 15-item DERS-Positive during intake or after big life changes. Track the three factor scores to see if your client is getting better at riding the highs without crashing. Pair it with standard DERS for negative emotions to get the full picture.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Emotion regulation difficulties are a transdiagnostic construct relevant to numerous clinical difficulties. Although the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a multidimensional measure of maladaptive ways of responding to emotions, it focuses on difficulties with the regulation of negative emotions and does not assess emotion dysregulation in the form of problematic responding to positive emotions. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a measure of clinically relevant difficulties in the regulation of positive emotions (DERS-Positive). Findings revealed a three-factor structure and supported the internal consistency and construct validity of the total and subscale scores.
Behavior modification, 2015 · doi:10.1177/0145445514566504