Persian Version of Expanded Emotion Regulation Scale Validated in Iranian Samples

Researchers have translated, adapted, and evaluated a Persian version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale–Expanded (DERS-X), a questionnaire designed to assess difficulties in regulating both negative and positive emotions. The psychometric validation study, published in the journal Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, was conducted in two parts: a community sample of 562 Iranian participants with a mean age of 26.72 years (standard deviation 10.09), and a clinical sample of 171 participants with diagnoses based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), with a mean age of 30.57 years (standard deviation 10.60).

The DERS-X differs from earlier emotion-regulation measures because it extends beyond negative emotion dysregulation to capture difficulties in regulating positive emotions as well. According to the study’s background, cross-cultural evidence for the scale’s factor structure and its relevance to affective symptoms had remained limited, motivating the new Persian adaptation.

Across both samples, the analysis showed that a model of eleven correlated first-order subscales provided the best fit to the data, and this structure was retained as the preferred one. Broader composite scores were treated as observed summaries rather than latent dimensions. Internal consistency of the scores ranged from adequate to strong, and the broader summary scores showed stronger temporal stability than the individual subscales.

The researchers also examined whether the questionnaire measures the same constructs across different groups. Scalar invariance was supported across gender, age, and clinical status, meaning that scores can be meaningfully compared between men and women, across age groups, and between community and clinical populations. Latent factor correlations indicated that the DERS-X dimensions were generally distinguishable from one another, although some closely related subscales overlapped in the clinical sample.

The scale’s scores showed the expected associations with external measures, including emotional intelligence, experiential avoidance, and other established emotion-regulation instruments. Beyond these correlations, the study tested whether the questionnaire added anything that existing measures do not capture. Positive-emotion difficulties contributed additional information for distress outcomes in the community sample and for depressive symptoms in the clinical sample, even after difficulties with negative emotions had been taken into account. The Persian DERS-X also added information beyond related emotion-regulation measures.

The authors conclude that the findings extend the cross-cultural evidence for interpreting DERS-X scores and support the Persian version as an eleven-dimensional measure suitable for research and for clinically informed assessment of difficulties in regulating both negative and positive emotions. As with any validation study, the results pertain to the specific Iranian community and clinical samples examined, and the reported associations are cross-sectional rather than causal.

Subject of Research: Validation of the Persian Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale–Expanded in Iranian community and clinical samples

Article Title: Beyond negative emotion dysregulation: factor structure, measurement invariance, and incremental validity evidence for the Persian difficulties in emotion regulation scale–expanded in Iranian community and clinical samples

Article References: Mousavi, S. E., Sadeghi, P., Parvin Mohebi, M., Mousavi, A., Miralikhani, R., & Hasani, J. (2026). Beyond negative emotion dysregulation: factor structure, measurement invariance, and incremental validity evidence for the Persian difficulties in emotion regulation scale–expanded in Iranian community and clinical samples. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-026-00378-8

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DOI: 10.1186/s40479-026-00378-8

Keywords: emotion regulation, DERS-X, psychometrics, Persian validation, measurement invariance, positive emotions, negative emotions, Iranian samples, factor structure, depressive symptoms, clinical assessment, emotional intelligence