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

This study included an online community-sample (n = 515) and aimed to: (1) explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of the European Portuguese versions of the Interoceptive Accuracy Scale (IAS) and the Body Perception Questionnaire (BPQ) - Body Awareness and Autonomic Reactivity scales; (2) examine the association between self-reported interoceptive attention and accuracy (indexed by the BPQ Body Awareness and IAS, respectively). Parallel-analysis indicated a one-factor solution for the BPQ Body Awareness. For the IAS and BPQ Autonomic Reactivity, bifactor ESEM models were retained. Ancillary measures revealed that both scales were mainly unidimensional and presented reliable total scores. All scales displayed excellent internal consistency, although test-rest reliability was modest. There was a quadratic U-shaped association between the IAS and BPQ Body Awareness. Alexithymia was negatively correlated with the IAS and unassociated with the BPQ Body Awareness. These findings suggest that interoceptive attention and accuracy may be dissociated using self-report questionnaires.