Alterations in interoception - the perception of internal bodily signals - have been repeatedly linked to psychopathology. Recent findings suggest that both the attention devoted to, and the accuracy of, interoceptive perceptions have opposed effects on subclinical symptomatology such as alexithymia. Thus, providing well-validated tools that tap onto these interoceptive processes is crucial for advancing the understanding of the relation between interoceptive processing and subclinical psychopathology. In the current multicenter study (N = 857), we aimed to (1) validate the German version of the Interoceptive Attention Scale (IATS; Gabriele et al., 2022), and (2) test the differential association of subjective interoceptive attention and accuracy with subclinical psychopathology, including alexithymia, somatic, depressive, and anxious symptomatology. Across three samples we found a one-factor solution to be the best-fitting model for the IATS. The IATS also showed good internal consistency but poor test-retest reliability. In terms of convergent and discriminate validity, the IATS showed positive correlations with other proposed measures of interoceptive attention, but no relationship with measures of interoceptive accuracy. Further, subjective interoceptive attention and accuracy scores were differentially related to subclinical psychopathology: self-reported interoceptive attention was significantly positively related to all measures of psychopathology (except for depressive symptomatology), interoceptive accuracy scores, however, showed significant negative or nonsignificant relations with subclinical measures of psychopathology. Altogether our data suggest that the IATS is a reliable and valid instrument that can be applied to German samples. Moreover, our findings emphasize the need to distinguish between constructs of interoception in relation to subclinical psychopathology.

With limited resources, exploring new opportunities is crucial for survival. Exploring novel options, however, comes at the cost of uncertainty. Therefore, there is a trade-off between exploiting options with a known beneficial outcome and exploring novel options with a potentially higher gain. Computational models have suggested that novelty may promote exploratory behavior by inducing a so-called novelty bonus through reward-related processes. So far, few studies have provided behavioral evidence for such a novelty bonus. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether spatial novelty can stimulate exploratory behavior (Experiment 1), and whether age, novelty-seeking, and reduced action radius or social interactions due to COVID-19 restrictions influenced the exploration-exploitation trade-off (Experiment 2). In both experiments, we employed a novel paradigm in which participants made binary decisions between food items, while on rare trials, a surprise option was presented. Results from Experiment 1 are in line with a novelty bonus, with spatial novelty promoting exploratory behavior. In Experiment 2, we found that exploratory behavior declined with age, high novelty seekers made more exploratory choices than low novelty seekers, and participants with a smaller action radius made fewer exploratory choices. These findings are consistent with previous findings in animals and predictions from computational models.

Abstract. Background: Only recently has interoception been discussed as a common risk factor for psychopathology. Recent approaches distinguish between the ability to accurately perceive ( interoceptive accuracy) and the propensity to attend ( interoceptive attention) to internal signals. Objective: To examine the latent structure of self-reported interoceptive accuracy and attention and their relationships to psychopathology. Methods: We used a confirmatory factor analysis to clarify the latent structure of interoceptive accuracy and attention. Structural equation modeling was utilized to determine relationships between both abilities with internalizing and somatoform symptomatology according to the HiTOP model ( Kotov et al., 2017 ). Data from N = 619 persons from the German general population were analyzed. Results: Interoceptive attention showed significant positive relationships with all psychopathological traits ( r = .221 to r = .377), whereas interoceptive accuracy was negatively associated with internalizing symptomatology ( r = -.106). Conclusion: The present findings indicate that personal beliefs about interoceptive abilities have different influences on psychopathological developments.

Assessment of the acuity of heartbeat perception, dubbed cardioceptive accuracy, as well as its association with various psychological characteristics are hot topics of interoception research. In this study, we aimed (1) to replicate previously reported findings on the association between the mental tracking task and a novel motor tracking task that eliminates disturbing tactile sensations; and (2) to explore associations between performance in the latter task and indicators of negative affectivity (anxiety, depression, anxiety sensitivity, somatic symptom distress), alexithymia, body focus, and dissatisfaction with body image. 102 young people (age = 20.8±5.08 yrs) participated in the study. Mental tracking score was significantly higher than motor tracking scores, although they were strongly associated. Frequentist correlation analysis showed no significant associations between indicators of cardioceptive accuracy and questionnaire scores; Bayesian analysis indicated the lack of association for the majority of the cases. Similarly, detectors and non-detectors showed no differences in any of the assessed characteristics and Bayesian results typically supported the lack of associations. In conclusion, cardioceptive accuracy, as assessed with different tracking methods, is not associated with the aforementioned self-reported characteristics in young individuals.

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