The DTS is a self-report measure on which respondents indicate, on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = “strongly agree” to 5 = “strongly disagree”), the extent to which they believe they can experience and withstand distressing emotional states (Simons & Gaher, 2005). The DTS encompasses four types of emotional distress items including: perceived ability to tolerate emotional distress (e.g., “I can’t handle feeling distressed or upset”), subjective appraisal of distress (e.g., “My feelings of distress or being upset are not acceptable”), attention absorption by negative emotions (e.g., “When I feel distressed or upset, I cannot help but concentrate on how bad the distress actually feels”), and regulation efforts to alleviate distress (e.g., “I’ll do anything to avoid feeling distressed or upset;” Simons & Gaher, 2005). The original 14-item version of the DTS (cf., the more recent 15-item version) was administered as a function of the time period during which these data were collected. Notably, the item not included in the 14-item version (i.e., “When I feel distressed or upset, I must do something about it immediately”) is intended only for
