Psychometric Properties of the Emotion Dysregulation Inventory in a Nationally Representative Sample of Youth

OBJECTIVE: The Emotion Dysregulation Inventory (EDI) is an informant questionnaire developed based on the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS(®)) Scientific Standards and refined through factor analyses and item response theory (IRT) analyses. Although it was developed to improve measurement of emotion dysregulation in youth with autism spectrum disorder, emotion dysregulation has transdiagnostic significance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the EDI’s psychometric properties and to establish IRT-based scores for a general population of youth. METHODS: Data were collected from a sample of 1000 caregivers of 6- to 17-year old youth matched to the US census on age, gender, race/ethnicity, years of education, and region. Confirmatory factor analyses and IRT analyses using the two-parameter graded response model were performed to evaluate the EDI’s structure and psychometric properties. RESULTS: Analyses supported the original two-factor structure of the EDI, reflecting factors for Reactivity and Dysphoria. Simulations of computerized adaptive testing supported use of the same items for a Reactivity short form as those that emerged as most informative in the original autism psychometric analyses. IRT co-calibration with commonly used measures of emotion regulation and irritability in child clinical or community samples indicated the EDI scales provide more information across a wider range of emotion dysregulation. Validity was supported by moderate correlations with measures of related constructs and expected known-group differences. CONCLUSIONS: The EDI is an efficient and precise measure of emotion dysregulation for use in general community and clinical samples as well as samples of youth with ASD.