Interoceptive accuracy predicts nonplanning trait impulsivity

Abstract

Influential theories concerning personality argue that many impulsive individuals show physiological underarousal at rest. This interoceptive state is proposed to be egodystonic, motivating impulsive maladaptive actions to enhance arousal. However, there is little empirical research on this matter. The current study tested the relationship between physiological markers of arousal, measures of interoceptive (in)sensitivity, and trait impulsivity in a nonclinical sample of young adults. Experiment 1 investigated whether individuals (N = 31) with high trait impulsivity show decreased resting measures of arousal (indexed from heart rate, heart rate variability, and sympathetic electrodermal activity). Experiment 2 assessed whether trait impulsivity is linked to interoceptive abilities (N = 60). Overall, our results do not provide any compelling support for the underarousal theory of impulsivity. However, impaired interoceptive (cardiac discrimination) accuracy predicted the degree of Barratt nonplanning impulsivity, such that individuals with a better ability to distinguish between internal (bodily) and external signals manifest lower levels of nonplanning trait impulsivity. These findings open an avenue for potential novel interventions aimed at improving planning abilities via better interoceptive discrimination.

Untangling Self-Reported Interoceptive Attention and Accuracy: Evidence from the European Portuguese Validation of the Body Perception Questionnaire and the Interoceptive Accuracy Scale

“…On the other hand, the BPQ Autonomic Reactivity evaluates responses of autonomically-innervated organs and tissues, which are driven by efferent control systems. The BPQ has been widely used as a self-report measure of interoception (e.g., Herman et al, 2019;Petzschner et al, 2019;Salvato et al, 2019;von Mohr et al, 2020), even if its application across fields has been far from being consistent and theoretically sound. 1 Moreover, although the BPQ has been translated to several languages, until now there are only two published studies exploring the psychometric properties of the full questionnaire (Cabrera et al, 2018;Cerritelli et al, 2021).…”

Transdiagnostic expression of interoceptive abnormalities in psychiatric conditions

“…Discrepancy between subjective and objective measures of interoception may account for affective symptoms, and is a promising target for intervention 20,25 . Interoceptive abilities also predict intuitive decision-making 23 , a ‘stronger representation of self’ 13 , and enhanced impulse control 36 , linking predictive interoceptive representations to self-regulation 4,13-16 .…”

Impact of cardiac interoception cues and confidence on voluntary decisions to make or withhold action in an intentional inhibition task

“…We also tested whether trait impulsivity related to individual differences in interoception. Previously, we found a (non-significant) weak correlation between higher trait impulsivity on the BIS and poorer interoceptive accuracy on the heartbeat tracking task 18 , and that poorer performance on a two alternative forced choice synchronicity task predicted lower attentional impulsivity as measured by the BIS 60 . Here, having studied only the heartbeat tracking task, it was not possible to replicate Herman et al 60 .…”

“…Previously, we found a (non-significant) weak correlation between higher trait impulsivity on the BIS and poorer interoceptive accuracy on the heartbeat tracking task 18 , and that poorer performance on a two alternative forced choice synchronicity task predicted lower attentional impulsivity as measured by the BIS 60 . Here, having studied only the heartbeat tracking task, it was not possible to replicate Herman et al 60 . Although we did not observe evidence for associations between heartbeat tracking accuracy and trait impulsivity in the present sample, there were positive correlations between BIS subscales and interoceptive awareness and confidence ratings.…”