Interpreting physical sensations to guide health-related behavior

Abstract

SummaryFrom a biopsychosocial perspective, maintaining health requires sufficient autoregulatory and self-regulatory capacity to both regulate somatic physiology and manage human-environment interactions. Increasing evidence from neuroscientific and psychological research suggests a functional link between so called interoceptive awareness and self-regulatory behavior. Self-regulation can, again, influence autoregulatory patterns as it is known from biofeedback training or meditation practices. In this review, we propose the psychosomatic competence model that provides a novel framework for the interrelation between interoceptive and self-regulatiory skills and health behavior. The term psychosomatic competence refers to a set of mind- and body-related abilities which foster an adequate interpretation of interoceptive signals to drive health-related behavior and physical well-being. Current related empirical findings and future directions of research on interoception and self-regulation are discussed.

Sensing the body matters: profiles of interoceptive sensibility in chronic pain adjustment

“…These findings align with previous studies showing that better IS skills regarding attention regulation, awareness of the body–mind connection, body trust, and worries about internal sensations were associated with less catastrophizing, 37,48 being lower worries about the body also linked with less fear-avoidance beliefs in low back patients. 37 These findings also support theoretical models on body–mind connections (embodied predictive interoceptive coding 2 ; psychosomatic competence model 18 ) that hypothesize that individuals' appraisals (eg, high catastrophizing and low self-efficacy) play a role in incongruences between expected and perceived bodily sensations, in turn activating and reinforcing maladaptive emotions and cognitions. Our results also confirm the interplay between interoceptive skills and the psychological factors considered in the FAM, 59 endorsing the inclusion of IS in the model, as previously proposed.…”

“…However, self-regulatory dimensions of interoceptive awareness also include the ability to buffer attention towards bodily sensations to manage suffering. 18 This may be particularly valuable for ICPs, who often present an increased attentional bias towards pain-related information to the detriment of other sensations, contributing to pain persistence. 4 Therefore, their ability to distract from (painful) bodily sensations may be adaptive.…”

“…Therefore, the first aim of this study was to identify IS skills profiles among individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain—the most prevalent and burdensome worldwide 6 —and to investigate how these profiles were associated with CP outcomes. Drawing on theoretical models on body–mind relations in health (eg, psychosomatic competence model 18 ), we expected individuals with a higher IS skills profile to report better CP outcomes, namely, lower pain intensity and interference, better physical function and vitality, and lower affective distress.…”

Biofeedback in medicine with a focus on cancer rehabilitation

“…Selected topics are presented from the field of psychosomatic medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, prevention and rehabilitation in a very comprehensive way. The review about the concept of psychosomatic competence is of high interest for all of us dealing with patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders [5]. A survey about the effects of biofeedback interventions in patients with pelvic pain, focusses on this very relevant but often forgotten clinical syndrome [6].…”

Dispositional Associations Between Interoceptive Attention Tendencies and Effortful Control: Cross‐sectional Findings from an Online National Survey of Japanese Working Adults

“…Future research directions also include potential relationships with psychosomatic competence, which connects self‐reported dimensions of interoceptive awareness into a similar framework that includes stress experiences and stress‐related regulation, general self‐regulation, mentalization, body‐related cognitive congruence, and body‐related health literacy (Fazekas et al, 2021). As interoceptive awareness and conscious body‐related self‐regulation were specifically identified as the likely contributors to psychosomatic competence and allostatic control (Fazekas et al, 2020), as well as related components of self‐efficacy or an overall interoceptive “attitude” (Khoury et al, 2018; Landsman‐Dijkstra et al, 2004), our findings suggest that researchers might consider IATs and factors of psychosomatic competence and self‐efficacy.…”