Dysphoria is a complex emotional state that seems to be present in many psychiatric disorders (especially in BPD), but whose psychopathological core is still surrounded by a halo of vagueness, so that measuring its construct empirically is difficult and suitable tests to do that do not exist in Italy.

To analyze the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Nepean Dysphoria Scale (NDS; Berle & Starcevic, 2012), a self-report questionnaire that measures dysphoria, reflecting its multidimensional nature.

To validate the Italian version of the NDS for using it in routine clinical practice and to assess dysphoria in a more conceptually coherent way.

The NDS was administered to 132 university students, along with other conceptually similar (Beck Depression Inventory II, Dysfunctional Attitude Scale – Form A and Toronto Alexithymia Scale) and conceptually distinct (Anxiety Sensitivity Index – 3) instruments. Then, its characteristics (internal consistency, factor structure, convergent and divergent validity) were examined, comparing them with those of the original version.

The 22-item NDS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (alpha = 0.94). A four-factor solution was confirmed, with factors pertaining to irritability, discontent, surrender and interpersonal resentment. There were medium to strong correlations with the Beck Depression Inventory II, and weaker but still significant correlations with Dysfunctional Attitude Scale – Form A, Toronto Alexithymia Scale and Anxiety Sensitivity Index – 3.

The Italian version of the NDS shows good psychometric properties, maintaining a high equivalence with the original version. Further research on clinical samples is needed.