Open AccessMultidimensional Interoceptive Awareness, Psychosomatic Symptoms, and Risk for Eating Disorders in a Female at Birth Adolescent Sample
Author(s) -
Greta Riboli
Publication year - 2022
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.54026/crpbs/1040
Subject(s) - eating disorders , psychology , clinical psychology , disordered eating , active listening , psychiatry , medicine , psychotherapist
Aim: This study aimed to identify specific interoceptive awareness dimensions related to the risk for eating disorders (ED) in a sample of female adolescents. Subjects and Method: A sample of 317 female adolescents (Mage=17.04±1.22) completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), the Psychophysiological Questionnaire (QPF-R), and the Eating Disorder Inventory 3 (EDI 3). The scores obtained at the MAIA subscales and the QPF-R were employed to predict the eating disorder risk composite score derived from the EDI-3. Results: The results showed that lower levels of self-regulation and trusting and higher levels of body listening significantly predicted the ED risk. Moreover, higher levels of enteric symptoms and lower levels of sympathetic symptoms were able to predict the ED risk in adolescents Conclusion: These findings point out the importance of discriminating the dimensions of interoceptive awareness for the assessment of ED risk and the central role of body signals’ awareness for the treatment of ED.