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The DERS-18 is the brief version of the workhorse emotion-regulation measure. Six three-item subscales covering the dimensions of emotion regulation that come up over and over in dialectical-behaviour therapy, trauma work, and any treatment where the presenting concern is “I can’t manage the feelings”.

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What it measures

Six 3-item subscales, each tapping a distinct emotion-regulation difficulty:
  • Awareness — paying attention to feelings (reverse-scored)
  • Clarity — knowing what you’re feeling
  • Goals — staying functional and goal-directed when upset
  • Impulse — controlling behaviour when upset
  • Nonacceptance — accepting emotional responses without judging them
  • Strategies — knowing how to feel better

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When to use it

  • Baseline at the start of DBT skills work — gives you per-subscale targets for which modules to emphasise
  • Mid-treatment to track which dimensions are shifting and which are stuck
  • Post-treatment to document change across the regulation domains
  • With any client whose presenting concern is “I lose it” — the subscale pattern points at where in the chain regulation breaks down

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How clients fill it out

Five minutes self-administered. Each item rates how often a statement applies, on a 1-5 scale with explicit percentage anchors (1 = Almost never 0-10%; 5 = Almost always 91-100%).

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How Rivet scores it

Each subscale sums to 3-15, total sums to 18-90. Higher = more difficulties.
SubscaleItemsDirection
Awareness1, 4, 6Reverse-scored
Clarity2, 3, 5Standard
Goals8, 12, 15Standard
Impulse9, 16, 18Standard
Nonacceptance7, 13, 14Standard
Strategies10, 11, 17Standard
The Awareness items are reverse-scored — Rivet handles the inversion inside the answer options. You don’t have to think about it. No standard diagnostic cutoff. The DERS-18 is a continuous tracking variable. Direction of change across sessions is the actionable signal.

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How to read it

Look at the subscale pattern, not just the total. A client whose total is moderately elevated but whose Impulse subscale is the highest contributor needs different work (distress-tolerance skills, urge surfing) than a client whose total is the same but whose Strategies subscale is dominant (broader skills-deficit picture). For DBT work specifically, the Impulse and Nonacceptance subscales often respond first; Awareness and Clarity tend to shift more slowly.

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Citation

Victor, S. E., & Klonsky, E. D. (2016). Validation of a brief version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-18) in five samples. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38(4), 582-589. Based on Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1), 41-54. Free clinical / research use.

Emotion regulation whiteboard preset

Visual emotion-regulation exercises that pair with DERS-18 tracking.

Mood diary

Day-to-day affect logs that give the DERS-18 subscale story texture.

MAAS

Present-moment attention — a complement to DERS Awareness.