Diagnostic Tool for Affective Dysregulation in Children – Screening Questionnaire (DADYS-Screen)

Abstract

The Diagnostic Tool for Affective Dysregulation in Children—Screening Questionnaire (DADYS-Screen), developed by Otto et al. (2023), serves as an efficient screening instrument for identifying affective dysregulation (AD) in pediatric populations. The scale’s construction began with an extensive initial item pool of 67 items derived from established instruments (e.g., Stringaris et al., 2012; Shields & Cicchetti, 1997; Irwin et al., 2012).

The scale was refined through rigorous qualitative investigations, including Delphi ratings and focus groups, followed by content validity analysis, resulting in a pre-screen version of 14 items. Subsequent psychometric evaluation, employing both Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT), yielded the final concise 12-item screening tool. Data supporting the DADYS-Screen were collected from diverse clinical and population-based samples, and sensitivity analyses confirmed the stability of the results across subsamples with complete data. Factor analysis confirmed a robust one-factorial model, demonstrating strong reliability and validity metrics suitable for clinical and research applications.

Keywords

Affective Dysregulation Screening, Children, Classical Test Theory, Diagnostic Tool, Irritability, Parent-Report, Sensitivity to Change, Child Psychopathology, Emotional Regulation, Psychodiagnostic Measures.

Authors

Otto, Christiane, Kaman, Anne, Barkmann, Claus, Döpfner, Manfred, Görtz-Dorten, Anja, Ginsberg, Claudia, Labarga, Sara Zaplana, Treier, Anne-Katrin, Roessner, Veit, Hanisch, Charlotte, Koelch, Michael, Banaschewski, Tobias, Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike.

[quads id=5]

Purpose

The primary purpose of the DADYS-Screen is to serve as an efficient, parent-reported screening questionnaire for detecting clinically relevant symptoms of affective dysregulation in children.

The tool is specifically designed to assess children within the 8- to 12-year-old age range. Its concise 12-item format is intended for rapid administration in large-scale epidemiological studies, community samples, and initial clinical intake settings where quick identification of emotional difficulties is necessary.

Construct

The DADYS-Screen primarily measures the latent construct of Affective Dysregulation (AD) in middle childhood. AD is defined as significant difficulty in modulating the intensity, duration, or expression of emotional responses appropriate to the context.

The items focus heavily on core behavioral and emotional manifestations of AD, particularly focusing on persistent irritability, frequent temper loss, low frustration tolerance, prolonged anger, and wide, unpredictable mood swings, reflecting emotional instability characteristic of this condition.

Validity

The development of the DADYS-Screen included rigorous procedures to establish content validity. The initial item generation relied on items sourced from existing, validated instruments and was refined through expert consensus via Delphi ratings and focus groups.

While specific criterion or concurrent validity coefficients were not detailed in the provided abstract, the strong results from the confirmatory factor analysis provide substantial evidence for the structural validity of the scale, confirming that the 12 items coherently measure a single underlying construct of affective dysregulation.

Reliability

The DADYS-Screen demonstrates excellent internal consistency, indicating that the items reliably measure the same underlying construct.

The calculated internal consistency coefficient, measured by Cronbach’s alpha, was reported as α = .94. This high value suggests strong homogeneity among the 12 items.

Factor Analysis

A comprehensive factor analysis was performed to determine the structural integrity of the DADYS-Screen. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) procedures supported a highly robust one-factor solution.

The single-factor model explained 60% of the overall variance among the items, with individual factor loadings being uniformly high, ranging from 0.64 to 0.86. The CFA utilized ULSMV-estimation (χ² = 4496.21, df = 54, p < .001). Fit indices indicated a “mediocre” fit according to the RMSEA (0.096, 90% CI = 0.093–0.098, following Browne and Cudeck, 1992), but demonstrated a “good fit” in relation to the baseline model according to the CFI (0.974, following Schermelleh-Engel et al., 2003).

Instrument

Test Type: Original screening questionnaire.

Format: The instrument consists of 12 items rated on a 4-point scale. Administration methods include both electronic and paper formats.

Language Available: English.

Population Group: Human (Male, Female).

Age Group: Childhood (birth–12 yrs) and specifically School Age (6–12 yrs).

Population Details: The scale was developed and validated using data collected from clinical and population-based samples in Germany. Respondents are parents reporting on the behavior of 8- to 12-year-old children.

Test Methodology: The development utilized multiple psychometric approaches, including Test Validity, Content Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Item Response Theory.

Keywords

Child Psychopathology, Classical Test Theory, Emotional Regulation, Irritability, Child Characteristics, Parent Report, Psychodiagnostic Measures, Test Responsiveness, Mental Health Screening.

[quads id=5]

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in the source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: The corresponding author’s email is [email protected] (Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer).

Correspondence Address: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Research Unit Child Public Health, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, Germany, 20246.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Permissions: The scale may be used for Research and Teaching purposes.

• Fee: No fee is required for use.

• Commercial Use: Commercial application is not permitted.

• Test Year: 2023.

• License: The scale is distributed under the Creative Commons license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

References

Otto, C., Kaman, A., Barkmann, C., Döpfner, M., Görtz-Dorten, A., Ginsberg, C., Labarga, S. Z., Treier, A.-K., Roessner, V., Hanisch, C., Koelch, M., Banaschewski, T., & Ravens-Sieberer, U. (2023). The DADYS-Screen: Development and evaluation of a screening tool for affective dysregulation in children. Assessment, 30(4), 1080–1094. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911221082709

[quads id=5]

Items of the Diagnostic Tool for Affective Dysregulation in Children–Screening Questionnaire (DADYS-Screen)

The DADYS-Screen is a concise measure that includes 12 items, focusing on observable behaviors related to emotional dysregulation. Item details are available in the source reference: 2023-69487-010, Table 2, Page 1087.

Items

1. Is easily annoyed by others.

2. Is often upset and offended.

3. Is often irritable or easily annoyed.

4. Demands must be met immediately—easily frustrated.

5. Responds angrily to limit-setting by adults.

6. Is impulsive.

7. Often loses temper.

8. Is prone to angry outbursts/tantrums easily.

9. Gets angry frequently.

10. Has strong or prolonged temper outbursts with loud scolding, screaming or crying several times a week.

11. Stays angry for a long time.

12. Exhibits wide mood swings (child’s emotional state is difficult to anticipate because she/he moves quickly from positive to negative moods).

Response Options

0 = not at all (true)
1 = somewhat (true)
2 = mostly (true)
3 = especially / very (true)