Inattention, emotion dysregulation and impairment among urban, diverse adults seeking psychological treatment.

•Participants were clients attending a low-fee outpatient mental health clinic.•Participants self-reported inattention, emotion regulation skills and impairment.•Inattention affected distress and relationships through emotion dysregulation.•Most important were identifying one's feelings; strategies to modulate emotions.•Only inattention was related to impairment at school and work.