Relationships between alexithymia and interoceptive accuracy and sensibility were best described as quadratic ( p = 0.002) and linear ( p = 0.040), respectively. Afterwards, participants completed tasks assessing emotional awareness (i.e., affect labeling, emotional granularity) and follow-up heartbeat detection task.
They were randomly assigned to a brief mindfulness-based body scan meditation intervention or control condition. Seventy six young adults completed a baseline heartbeat detection task, to assess interoceptive accuracy and sensibility, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 item. In this study, we aimed to (1) elucidate the role of interoceptive accuracy and sensibility, two dimensions of interoceptive awareness, in alexithymia, and (2) test the efficacy of a brief mindfulness meditation for improving interoceptive accuracy, interoceptive sensibility, and emotional awareness. Therefore, it is possible that mindfulness meditation may reduce affective deficits associated with alexithymia by improving interoceptive awareness. It has long been demonstrated that mindfulness meditation can alter perceptions of one's own emotions and bodily cues. Recent research suggests deficient interoceptive awareness, or reduced awareness of one's internal bodily state, may be key in the etiology of alexithymia. Currently, the mechanisms underlying affective deficits associated with alexithymia are unclear, hindering targeted treatment delivery. 2Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, United StatesĪlexithymia, or a reduced ability to label and describe one's emotions, is a transdiagnostic construct associated with poor psychosocial outcomes.1Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States.
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