Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis of the distress tolderance scale (DTS) in a clinical sample of eating disorder patients

A confirmatory factor analysis of the factor structure of the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) created by Corstorphine et al. [Corstorphine, E., Mountford, V., Tomlinson, S., Waller, G., & Meyer, C. (2007). Distress tolerance in the eating disorders. Eating Behaviors, 8, 91–97.] was conducted to assess whether the scale's purported three factors emerged in a clinical sample of patients with a DSM-IV diagnosed eating disorder. The original three-factor model was generally considered to be a poor fit for the data. Subsequent exploratory factor analysis indicated that a better fit emerged using a four-factor structure. Significant associations were observed between behavioral avoidance of positive affect and eating disorder psychopathology. Implications for use of the DTS with eating disorder patients are discussed.