Psychometric properties of the English-language difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-16 for 15-18-year-old adolescents in the Western Cape of South Africa

Given that emotion regulation (ER) is associated with mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, among adolescents, it is vital to have psychometrically sound ER measures. However, validated ER measures for South African adolescents are scarce. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the psychometric properties of the English-language Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale–16 (DERS-16) among South African adolescents in the Western Cape. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 474 students aged 15–18 years from 12 high schools in the Western Cape. The survey assessed sociodemographic characteristics, ER, depression and anxiety. Psychometric properties of the DERS-16 were assessed, including internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The DERS-16 displayed excellent internal consistency (α = 0.93), average test-retest reliability (r = 0.64), and strong convergent validity with both the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10; r = 0.72) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7; r = 0.69). A weaker but significant negative correlation was found with the ER Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ; r = −0.26). Exploratory factor analysis proposed a novel two-factor model with loadings ranging from 0.39 to 0.86. Confirmatory factor analysis provided additional support for the two-factor structure, with acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.89, RMSEA = 0.089). The DERS-16 is a sound tool for measuring ER difficulties among older South African adolescents, thus addressing the gap in such measures for this setting. Given that ER is crucial for adolescent mental health, this research underscores the need for ongoing development and validation of ER tools tailored to South African adolescents. • The DERS-16 showed high internal consistency. • Test-retest reliability was moderately strong in the adolescent sample. • Convergent validity was supported by strong correlations with CESD-10 and GAD-7. • Factor analyses supported a simplified two-factor structure, which may improve the measure's practicality in low-resource settings. • The two-factor model reflects developmentally and contextually grounded emotion regulation domains.