AI Article Synopsis

  • Altered interoception may contribute to medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), but its specific role in noticing versus interpreting bodily signals is unclear.
  • In two studies, individuals with MUS (high symptom reporters) had lower interoceptive awareness scores compared to low symptom reporters, particularly in areas like distraction and self-regulation.
  • Groups with somatoform disorder and major depressive disorder showed lower awareness in similar areas compared to healthy controls, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to improve interoceptive awareness in treatment and prevention strategies.

Article Abstract

Altered interoception may play a major role in the etiology of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). It remains unclear, however, if these alterations concern noticing of signals or if they are limited to the interpretation of signals. We investigated whether individuals with MUS differ in interoceptive awareness as assessed with the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) questionnaire. Study 1: A total of 486 individuals completed the Screening for Somatoform Disorders (SOMS-2). Thirty-two individuals each of the upper and lower decile of the SOMS distribution (low symptom reporters/LSR, high symptom reporters/HSR) completed the MAIA. Study 2: MAIA scores of individuals diagnosed with somatoform disorder (SFD; = 26) were compared to individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD; = 25) and healthy controls (HC; = 26). HSR had lower scores than LSR on the MAIA scales Not-Distracting and Not-Worrying. The SFD and MDD groups showed lower scores than HC on the MAIA scales Not-Distracting, Self-Regulation, and Trusting. The MDD group scored lower than the other two groups on the scales Body Listening and Attention Regulation. There were no group differences on the scale Noticing. HSR, SFD, and MDD patients do not differ from HC in the awareness of noticing of interoceptive signal processing, whereas cognitive facets of interoception, such as distraction or self-regulation are differentially affected. This highlights the necessity of including specifically targeted interventions, which improve interoceptive awareness, in the prevention and treatment of SFDs.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7426478PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01859DOI Listing

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