Confirming the Factor Structure and Validity of the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) in Youth

Tonarely, Niza A.; Ehrenreich–May, Jill

doi:10.1007/s10578-019-00935-z

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Items are rated on a 5-point scale from 1 ( strongly agree ) to 5 ( strongly disagree ). The DTS has been validated in samples of community and clinical youth, where its internal consistency, convergent validity, and ability to discriminate populations were established (Tonarely & Ehrenreich-May, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tonarely et al (2021) investigated the effect of treatment with UP-C or UP-A on parents’ own emotional responding and parenting responses, as well as the effect of these changes on youth outcomes. Tonarely and Ehrenreich-May (2019) examined the validity and psychometric properties of the distress tolerance scale in youth using baseline data (e.g., parent- and youth-reported anxiety, depression) from the same sample. Tonarely et al (2020) investigated the higher order construct of neuroticism as indicated by distress tolerance, avoidance, and negative affect and its association with youth and parent reported anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.…”

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confidence: 99%

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A person-centered approach to understanding heterogeneity of youth receiving transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders.

Kennedy¹,

Tonarely²,

Halliday³

et al. 2022

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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Objective: Transdiagnostic models of youth psychopathology posit shared, underlying core features of emotional disorders that confer risk for and/or maintain symptoms. Youth may differ in the presence and severity of these underlying core features, and matching intervention strategies to such features may help personalize transdiagnostic interventions. We used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify profiles of youth based on core underlying transdiagnostic dysfunctions and examined associations of profiles with treatment outcome. Method: LPA was conducted with 298 youth ages 7-18.8 (M age = 12, SD = 3.2; 48.7% female; primarily White and Hispanic/Latinx) with a primary emotional disorder. Indicators for LPA included self-report measures of affect, anxiety sensitivity (AS), distress tolerance (DT), and emotion regulation (ER). Longitudinal associations between profile membership and treatment outcome were examined in a subset of 177 youth (M age = 11.8, SD = 3.2; 52% female; primarily White and Hispanic/Latinx). Results: LPA identified three profiles characterized by differing levels of DT, affect, and ER. A Moderately Distressed and Dysregulated profile had the largest membership (65.1%) and poorer youth-reported anxiety and depression outcomes compared to a Distress Tolerant, Regulated Expressive profile (24.9%). A Distressed, High Affect Avoidant profile (10%) had the greatest baseline severity and the poorest depression outcomes, although most youth improved. Conclusions: Youth characterized by certain profiles of transdiagnostic core processes appear to have the poorest functioning and treatment prognosis, although most youth improved. Targeting these processes more directly and/or earlier in treatment may help to improve outcomes for youth. What is the public health significance of this article?This study examines whether youth with emotional disorders can be grouped into profiles based on broad transdiagnostic features, as well as whether these profiles predict response to transdiagnostic, cognitive-behavioral treatment. It suggests that youth who have difficulty tolerating distress and experience stronger negative reactions to emotions may have more severe symptoms and respond more poorly to treatment.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A person-centered approach to understanding heterogeneity of youth receiving transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders.

Kennedy¹,

Tonarely²,

Halliday³

et al. 2022

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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“…Using the 16-item Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) [ 27 ]—a valid, reliable measure of overall distress tolerance in adults—parents rated their perceived ability to experience and withstand distressing emotional states on a 5-point scale. Higher mean DTS scores reflect lower levels of distress tolerance.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empowering Anxious Parents to Manage Child Avoidance Behaviors: Randomized Control Trial of a Single-Session Intervention for Parental Accommodation

Sung¹,

Mumper²,

Schleider³

2021

JMIR Ment Health

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Background A majority of youth who need anxiety treatment never access support. This disparity reflects a need for more accessible, scalable interventions—particularly those that may prevent anxiety in high-risk children, mitigating future need for higher-intensity care. Self-guided single-session interventions (SSIs) may offer a promising path toward this goal, given their demonstrated clinical utility, potential for disseminability, and low cost. However, existing self-guided SSIs have been designed for completion by adolescents already experiencing symptoms, and their potential for preventing anxiety in children—for instance, by mitigating known anxiety risk factors—remains unexplored. Objective This trial evaluated the acceptability and proximal effects of project EMPOWER: a web-based, self-guided SSI designed to reduce parental accommodation, a parenting behavior known to increase the risk of anxiety in offspring. Methods In total, 301 parents who reported elevated anxiety symptoms with children aged 4-10 years received either project EMPOWER or an informational control (containing psychoeducational materials and resources); parents self-reported their accommodation of child anxiety and overall distress tolerance at baseline and 2-week follow-up. Results Relative to control-group parents, those who received the intervention outlined in project EMPOWER reported significant reductions in their accommodation of child anxiety (ds=0.61; P<.001) and significant increases in their distress tolerance (ds=0.43; P<.001) from baseline to 2-week follow-up. Additionally, parents rated project EMPOWER as highly acceptable (ie, easy to use, helpful, and engaging) in accordance with preregistered benchmarks. Conclusions Project EMPOWER is an acceptable self-guided SSI for parents of children at-risk for anxiety, which yields proximal reductions in clinically relevant targets. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04453865; https://tinyurl.com/4h84j8t9

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“…Scale (DTS; [25])-a valid, reliable measure of overall distress tolerance in adults-parents rated on a 5-point scale their perceived ability to experience and withstand distressing emotional states. Higher mean DTS scores reflect lower levels of distress tolerance.…”

Section: Parent Distress Tolerance (Secondary Outcome) Via the 16-item Distress Tolerancementioning

confidence: 99%

Empowering Anxious Parents to Manage Child Avoidance Behaviors: Randomized Trial of a Single-Session Intervention for Parent Accommodation

Sung¹,

Mumper²,

Schleider³

2021

Preprint

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Background: A majority of youth who need anxiety treatment never access support. This disparity reflects a need for more accessible, scalable interventions—particularly those that may prevent anxiety in high-risk children, mitigating future need for higher-intensity care. Self- guided single-session interventions (SSIs) may offer a promising path toward this goal, given their demonstrated clinical utility, potential for disseminability, and low-cost. However, existing self-guided SSIs have been designed for completion by adolescents already experiencing symptoms, and their potential for preventing anxiety in children—for instance, by mitigating known anxiety risk factors—remains unexplored. Methods: This trial evaluated the acceptability and proximal effects of Project BRAVE: a web-based, self-guided SSI designed to reduce parent accommodation, a parenting behavior known to increase anxiety risk in offspring. 301 parents reporting elevated anxiety symptoms (98.01% mothers) with children ages 4-10 received either Project BRAVE or an informational control (containing psychoeducational materials and resources); parents self-reported their accommodation of child anxiety and overall distress tolerance at baseline and 2-week follow-up. Results: Relative to control-group parents, parents who received Project BRAVE reported significant reductions in their accommodation of child anxiety (𝑑𝑠=0.61, p<.001), as well as significant increases in their distress tolerance(𝑑𝑠=0.43, p<.001), from baseline to 2-week follow-up. Additionally, parents who completed Project BRAVE rated it as highly acceptable (e.g., easy to use, helpful, engaging) per pre-registered benchmarks. Conclusions: Project BRAVE is an acceptable self-guided SSI for parents of children at-risk for anxiety, yielding proximal reductions in clinically-relevant targets.

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Confirming the Factor Structure and Validity of the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) in Youth

Cited by 23 publications

References 29 publications

A person-centered approach to understanding heterogeneity of youth receiving transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders.

A person-centered approach to understanding heterogeneity of youth receiving transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders.

Empowering Anxious Parents to Manage Child Avoidance Behaviors: Randomized Control Trial of a Single-Session Intervention for Parental Accommodation

Empowering Anxious Parents to Manage Child Avoidance Behaviors: Randomized Trial of a Single-Session Intervention for Parent Accommodation

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