No abstract

Interoceptive awareness, which refers to the features of interoception that are accessible to consciousness, has been consistently associated with physical and psychological health. To date, the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) is the most comprehensive self-report measure of interoceptive awareness. As such, it has been translated into many languages and validated in many countries. Aim: The aim of the present study was to validate a French version of the MAIA (MAIA-Fr), so it can be used in clinical and research settings with French-speaking populations. Method: The psychometric properties of the MAIA-Fr were analyzed based on the responses of 345 French adult participants. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity of the MAIA-Fr were examined. Result: As for the original MAIA, the factor analyses supported an eight-factor structure of the MAIA-Fr. The results indicated a good construct validity of the questionnaire and showed appropriate-to-good internal consistency and temporal stability for most MAIA-Fr scales. In line with previous validation studies, questionable behaviors were found for the Not distracting and Not worrying scales. Conclusion: The MAIA-Fr was deemed appropriate to assess interoceptive awareness in French-speaking populations. Public Significance StatementThe way we perceive and identify our internal body sensations is known as our interoceptive awareness and it can have a great impact on our physical and psychological health. This study examined the properties of a French translation of a popular questionnaire assessing interoceptive awareness. It concluded that this French version can be safely used by clinicians and researchers in French-speaking populations.

This study examined the association between emotional eating, emotion dysregulations, and interoceptive sensibility in 116 patients with obesity by distinguishing an “awareness” and a “reliance” component of interoceptive sensibility. Deficits in interoceptive awareness were only associated with more emotional eating in obesity through less interoceptive reliance and more emotion dysregulations. The results suggest that good interoceptive awareness can increase the risk of emotional eating if not supported by good interoceptive reliance. Interoceptive reliance, like the ability to trust, positively consider, and positively use inner sensations, should be a privileged target of psychotherapeutic interventions in obesity.

Summary Emotion dys‐regulation is thought to be involved in the development and maintenance of emotional eating (EE), notably through its links with anxious and depressive symptoms. AIM: The aims of the study were to: (a) examine the mediating effect of depressive and anxious symptoms on the relationship between emotion dys‐regulation and EE in obesity and (b) compare those links with various degrees of obesity severity. One hundred and twenty patients with obesity, including 60 with “n” (MO) (30 ≤ BMI < 40) and 60 with “severe obesity” (SO) (BMI > 40), completed self‐report measures of emotion dys‐regulation, depression, anxiety and EE. Partial least square structural equation modelling and multi‐group analyses were performed. Emotion dys‐regulation was found to be significantly associated with EE only when the severity of obesity was taken into account. In addition, although the MO and SO groups reported similar levels of emotional and eating disorders, significant differences were found between the groups in pathways leading to EE. In MO, emotion dys‐regulation was only associated with more EE through more anxiety. In SO, emotion dys‐regulation was both directly and indirectly associated with more EE, but only through more depression in the latter. Emotion dys‐regulation, anxiety and depression do not have the same impact on EE depending on the severity of obesity. Psychotherapeutic interventions should aim at reducing emotion dys‐regulation in obesity from MO onwards, but the focus should be on the management of anxiety‐related affects in MO and depression‐related affects in SO.