Invariance of the Derailment Scale-6: Testing the measurement and correlates of derailment across adulthood.

Abstract

Derailment, a newly mapped construct describing difficulty reconciling perceived changes in identity and selfdirection, offers researchers a unique lens for understanding adjustment. As identity development is a lifelong process, establishing the impartiality of the primary measure for derailment across a broad age range is necessary. Across a cross-sectional sample of emerging, young, and midlife adults (N = 1,420), we tested preregistered hypotheses concerning whether the Derailment Scale-6 (DS-6) demonstrates measurement invariance, and the extent to which levels and correlates of derailment differ with age. The DS-6 exhibited configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance across the three age groups. In terms of effect size, statistical differences detected at the scalar level were hardly larger than negligible noninvariance effects, suggesting in sum that the DS-6 is adequate for assessing and comparing derailment among those roughly 18-70 years. In general, derailment was related to greater distress and identity exploration, and lower identity commitment, sense of purpose in life, and future time perspective (FTP). We further found that derailment shares a modest negative association with age; it is more positively associated with identity exploration among younger individuals; and it is more negatively associated with identity commitment, sense of purpose in life, and FTP among older individuals. With the broadest age range and most highly powered set of tests studying derailment to date, this investigation bolsters confidence in our tools for assessing derailment and has taken the initial steps toward sketching the form and function of perceived identity change over the lifespan. Public Significance StatementFeeling "off-course" in life (i.e., derailment) is associated with greater concurrent psychological distress, lower identity commitment and purpose in life, and the sense that one is running out of time in their life. This study demonstrates that the tool for assessing derailment is appropriate for use among, and the comparison of, those roughly 18 to 70-years-old. Importantly, some adjustment correlates of derailment may strengthen or weaken depending upon age.

Derailment and depression in college: Tests of 3-year predictive capacity and moderation by self-reflection, brooding, perfectionism, and cognitive flexibility.

“…The focus of the present study is not meant to limit derailment to depression; rather, our introduction of derailment to the counseling literature can act as a springboard for its investigation in relation to other clusters of distress. In addition to established relations between derailment and anxiety (Burrow et al, 2020), derailment negatively relates to future time perspective (Ratner, Burrow, Thoemmes, & Mendle, 2022), an individual difference in the amount of time a person perceives as remaining (Carstensen et al, 1999). People with a more limited future time perspective focus more on the present, and an excessive present orientation may increase risk for substance use (e.g., Barnett et al, 2013; Jochemczyk et al, 2017).…”

“…As stated above, the present study is derived from a larger project. The preregistration for the analyses featured in this study, data, and R script can be found on or through the parent project’s repository on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/4akjr; direct link to preregistration: https://osf.io/n8kr4; Ratner et al, 2019b, 2022a). All online Supplemental Materials explicitly listed in this article are located on a separate component page of the parent project (https://osf.io/f5sgc/; Ratner et al, 2022b).…”