DERS

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a 36-item self-report measure developed by Kim Gratz and Lizabeth Roemer to assess clinically relevant difficulties in emotion regulation. It measures six dimensions: Non-Acceptance of emotional responses, difficulty engaging in Goal-directed behavior, Impulse control difficulties, lack of emotional Awareness, limited access to emotion regulation Strategies, and lack of emotional Clarity. Each item is rated 1–5, with total scores from 36 to 180 and higher scores indicating greater difficulty. The DERS is used in MDMA-assisted therapy research for PTSD, where emotion dysregulation is a core feature. MDMA’s prosocial and anxiolytic effects may specifically target emotion regulation deficits, and reductions in DERS scores post-treatment can help elucidate the therapeutic mechanisms of MDMA-assisted therapy. The DERS has excellent internal consistency (α = 0.93) and good test–retest reliability.