Emotional profiles across physical activity: exploring interoception, emotional regulation and attitudes toward...

While the health impacts of physical activity are well-established, the contribution of internal regulatory processes to these behaviors remains unclear. This study adopts an integrative perspective to examine how interoceptive sensibility and emotion regulation jointly differentiate physical activity levels and predict attitudes toward effort.

1073 adults (557 males, mean age = 35.4) completed the Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, and Physical Effort Scale. Participants were classified into three physical activity groups (Inactive, Moderate, High) using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), based on established metabolic equivalent and frequency criteria. The IPAQ also assessed total sitting time.

ANCOVAs controlling gender, age, education and BMI, showed that Moderate and High groups demonstrated higher interoceptive sensibility than the Inactive group. Inactive group exhibited higher anxiety and depression symptoms and greater attention to uncomfortable sensations. No differences emerged between the Moderate and High groups in emotional regulation or interoception. Approach and Avoidance toward physical effort significantly differed across all three physical activity levels. Multiple regression indicated that low worry about bodily sensations predicted greater Approach and lower Avoidance toward physical effort. Greater listening to body sensations and not distracting from them predicted higher Avoidance, while higher self-regulation by focusing on body sensations predicted higher Approach.

Cognitive emotion regulation did not differentiate physical activity groups, whereas attitudes did and were mainly predicted by interoception, highlighting the role of sensory-perceptual processes. Targeting attitudes toward exercise and interoceptive processes may promote physical activity, with moderate levels may be sufficient for mental health benefits.