Elke Vlemincx1,2, Marta Walentynowicz3,4,5, Giorgia Zamariola3, Lukas Van Oudenhove6,7,8, Olivier Luminet3,4. 1. Department of Health Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 2. Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. 3. Psychological Sciences Research Institute, UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. 4. Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS), Brussels, Belgium. 5. Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. 6. Laboratory for Brain-Gut Axis Studies, Translational Research in Gastrointestinal Disorders, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. 7. Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. 8. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The self-reported perception of bodily sensations is assumed predictive for health and disease. Existing questionnaires mostly focus on aversive sensations, and associated emotions and cognitions, which potentially confounds associations between interoception and illness. Therefore, we developed the Three-domain Interoceptive Sensations Questionnaire (THISQ), assessing self-reported perception of neutral respiratory, cardiac, and gastroesophageal sensations. DESIGN: Using cross-sectional surveys, we developed and validated the THISQ. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In Sample 1 (n = 357), a pool of 28 Dutch items was subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Eighteen items with a primary factor loading >.40 were retained for confirmatory factor analysis in Sample 2 (n = 374) and Sample 3 (n = 484) for the validation of the Dutch and English questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS: Analyses supported the 3-factor solution: cardiorespiratory activation, cardiorespiratory deactivation, and gastroesophageal sensations. Scales showed acceptable to good internal consistency. Convergent validity was confirmed by significant medium associations between THISQ scores and other self-report measures of interoception. Divergent validity was supported by non-significant or small associations with measures of negative affectivity and symptom-related anxiety. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the Dutch and English THISQs are valid and reliable self-report measures of interoception, which could advance our understanding of interoceptive processes in health and disease. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2021.2009479 .
OBJECTIVES: The self-reported perception of bodily sensations is assumed predictive for health and disease. Existing questionnaires mostly focus on aversive sensations, and associated emotions and cognitions, which potentially confounds associations between interoception and illness. Therefore, we developed the Three-domain Interoceptive Sensations Questionnaire (THISQ), assessing self-reported perception of neutral respiratory, cardiac, and gastroesophageal sensations. DESIGN: Using cross-sectional surveys, we developed and validated the THISQ. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In Sample 1 (n = 357), a pool of 28 Dutch items was subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Eighteen items with a primary factor loading >.40 were retained for confirmatory factor analysis in Sample 2 (n = 374) and Sample 3 (n = 484) for the validation of the Dutch and English questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS: Analyses supported the 3-factor solution: cardiorespiratory activation, cardiorespiratory deactivation, and gastroesophageal sensations. Scales showed acceptable to good internal consistency. Convergent validity was confirmed by significant medium associations between THISQ scores and other self-report measures of interoception. Divergent validity was supported by non-significant or small associations with measures of negative affectivity and symptom-related anxiety. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the Dutch and English THISQs are valid and reliable self-report measures of interoception, which could advance our understanding of interoceptive processes in health and disease. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2021.2009479 .