Associations Between Autism and Self-Reported Dimensions of Interoception

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Autism Research

Background:

• Autism is characterized by diverse sensory processing differences.
• Interoception, the sense of the body's internal state, is inconsistently linked to autism.
• Understanding interoceptive dimensions in autism is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between autism diagnosis, autistic traits, and self-reported interoception.
• To examine interoceptive accuracy, attention, and evaluation in relation to autism.
• To clarify which aspects of interoception are associated with autism.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of questionnaire data from 519 participants (232 autistic).
• Assessment of self-reported interoceptive accuracy, attention, and evaluation.
• Statistical analysis correlating interoceptive measures with autism diagnosis and autistic traits.

Main Results:

• Autistic individuals reported more negative evaluations of bodily signals compared to non-autistic individuals.
• Higher autistic traits in the general population were associated with greater interoceptive attention.
• Increasing autistic traits correlated with lower interoceptive accuracy and higher negative interoceptive evaluation.

Conclusions:

• Interoceptive evaluation, particularly negative interpretations, is significantly associated with autism.
• Future research should prioritize understanding interoceptive evaluation in autism.
• These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of interoception in autism spectrum disorder.