Findings that interoceptive training is associated with health outcomes for women in SUD treatment are consistent with emerging neurocognitive models that link interoception to emotion regulation and to related health outcomes, providing knowledge critical to supporting and improving SUD treatment.

Evidence from this study validated the multisensory stimulation therapy protocol. Therefore, this protocol may be incorporated into clinical interventions to improve quality of care and to alleviate the negative emotions of patients with chronic schizophrenia.

The Scale of Body Connection (SBC) was created to address the need for a self-report measure to examine body awareness and bodily dissociation in mind-body research. Developed in the U.S.A., it has been translated into many languages and tested for validity of scale translation. The burgeoning of mind-body research and the widespread use of the SBC scale underscored the need for critical assessment of the instrument’s measurement properties. Thus, a broader evaluation of the SBC was designed using large samples from eight international, cross-sectional studies drawn from community (i.e., non-clinical) populations. Specifically, we assessed scale distribution properties and internal consistency reliabity, and using confirmatory factory analysis we evaluated scale contruct validity and compared male/female measurement models. The results indicated acceptable reliability for both the body awareness and bodily dissociation scales, and a good fit between the proposed theoretic model and the data, providing evidence of construct validity across all samples. Mean differences in body awareness were observed for males vs. females in most samples, with females generally showing higher body awareness compared to males. Multi-group structural equation modeling demonstrated a stable latent factor structure and factor loadings, indicating equivalent measurement models for males and females. In summary, this multi-sample study demonstrated SBC construct validity that supports its use in clinical research as a brief, readily translated, easy to administer measure of body awareness and bodily dissociation.

Objective: People living with severe mental illness are at increased risk of medical comorbidity as well as poverty, food insecurity, and inadequate social support in managing their mental and physical health conditions. Lack of access to sufficient food negatively affects a person's ability to manage health conditions, in particular diabetes, which is twice as common among people with severe mental illness as the general population. This study aimed to explore associations among food insecurity, social support, and psychiatric symptoms among adults with severe mental illness and diabetes. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between January and May 2021 among adults (N = 156) with severe mental illness and type 2 diabetes who received primary care through a large academic health-care system (26% response rate). Valid and reliable questionnaires were implemented to measure food insecurity, social support, and mental health. Regression analysis was applied to examine the associations between food security status, social support, and mental health. Results: Food insecurity and social support are both correlated with psychiatric symptom severity. Specifically, support from family members has the largest protective role against food insecurity. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: This study found food insecurity is likely a critical issue to address whenever it is present in adults with severe mental illness (SMI) and type 2 diabetes. The presence of family support mitigates the need for addressing food insecurity. Practices and policies aimed at both addressing health inequities such as food insecurity and strengthening family support among people living with SMI and comorbid medical conditions are important adjuncts to self-management interventions. Impact and ImplicationsMedical care for diabetes for people who have SMI must address the impact of social determinants of health, including food insecurity and social support. For adults with SMI and type 2 diabetes, family support may have important effects on the link between food insecurity and adverse mental health outcomes.

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