There are no short-term longitudinal associations among interoceptive accuracy, external body orientation, and body image dissatisfaction

A conceptual framework on body representations and their relevance for mental disorders

Many mental disorders are accompanied by distortions in the way the own body is perceived and represented (e.g., eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder including muscle dysmorphia, or body integrity dysphoria). We are interested in the way these distortions develop and aim at better understanding their role in mental health across the lifespan. For this purpose, we first propose a conceptual framework of body representation that defines this construct and integrates different perspectives (e.g., cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology) on body representations. The framework consists of a structural and a process model of body representation emphasizing different goals: the structural model aims to support researchers from different disciplines to structure results from studies and help collectively accumulate knowledge about body representations and their role in mental disorders. The process model is reflecting the dynamics during the information processing of body-related stimuli. It aims to serve as a motor for (experimental) study development on how distorted body representations emerge and might be changed. Second, we use this framework to review the normative development of body representations as well as the development of mental disorders that relate to body representations with the aim to further clarify the potential transdiagnostic role of body representations.

Self-reported interoceptive accuracy and interoceptive attention differentially correspond to measures of visual attention and self-regard

Background

Interoception, the perception of bodily functions and sensations, is a crucial contributor to cognition, emotion, and well-being. However, the relationship between these three processes is not well understood. Further, it is increasingly clear that dimensions of interoception differentially corresponds to these processes, yet this is only recently being explored. The present study addresses two important questions: Are subjective interoceptive accuracy and interoceptive attention related to self-regard and well-being? And are they related to exteroceptive (visual) attention?

Methods

Participants (N = 98; 29% women; aged 23-64 years) completed: a battery of questionnaires to assess subjective accuracy (how well one predicts bodily sensations), interoceptive attention (a tendency to notice bodily signals), self-regard (self-esteem, self-image, life satisfaction), state negative affect (depression, anxiety, and stress), a self-esteem Implicit Association Task (a measure of implicit self-esteem), and a flanker task to assess visual selective attention. Subjective interoceptive accuracy and attention served as dependent variables. Correlations and principal component analysis was used to establish correlations among variables and determine how, or whether, these measures are associated with subjective interoceptive accuracy or attention.

Results

Greater scores on measures of self-regard, implicit self-esteem, cognition and lower negative affect were broadly associated with greater subjective interoceptive accuracy. Conversely, only explicit self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and self-image corresponded to subjective interoceptive attention. An exploratory analysis with a more inclusive scale of interoceptive attention was conducted. Results of this exploratory analysis showed that the broader measure was a stronger correlate to self-regard than subjective interoceptive accuracy, though it, too, did not correlate with visual attention. In short, both subjective interoceptive accuracy and attention corresponded to well-being and mental health, but only accuracy was associated with exteroceptive attention.

Conclusion

These results add to a growing literature suggesting different dimensions of (subjective) interoception differentially correspond to indices of well-being. The links between exteroceptive and interoceptive attention, and their association with merit further study.

Weaker implicit interoception is associated with more negative body image: Evidence from gastric-alpha phase amplitude coupling and the heartbeat evoked potential

Interoception refers to the processing of internal bodily stimuli, while body image refers to appearance-related perceptions, affect, and cognitions. Previous research has found that body image is associated with self-reported and behavioural indices of interoception. Here, we extended this research by examining associations between measures of positive (i.e., body appreciation, functionality appreciation) and negative body image (i.e., body shame, weight preoccupation) and two electrophysiological indices of interoceptive processing, namely the heartbeat evoked potential (HEP) and gastric-alpha phase-amplitude coupling (PAC), in a sample of 36 adults. Significant negative associations were identified between the indices of negative body image and the interoception variables. Specifically, more negative HEP amplitude and lower gastric-alpha PAC were both associated with greater body shame and weight preoccupation. However, no significant associations were identified for the indices of positive body image. These findings extend previous work by demonstrating that there are significant associations between negative body image and previously unexplored components of cardiac and gastric interoception. This, in turn, could have important clinical applications, such as the HEP and gastric-alpha PAC both serving as biomarkers of negative body image.