Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct;77(10):530-540.
doi: 10.1111/pcn.13576. Epub 2023 Aug 9.

Psychological interventions for interoception in mental health disorders: A systematic review of randomized-controlled trials

Nikolas Heim #  1   2 , Marina Bobou #  3 , Michal Tanzer  3 , Paul M Jenkinson  4 , Christiane Steinert  1   5 , Aikaterini Fotopoulou  3
Affiliations

Psychological interventions for interoception in mental health disorders: A systematic review of randomized-controlled trials

Nikolas Heim et al. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Disturbed interoception (i.e., the sensing, awareness, and regulation of internal body signals) has been found across several mental disorders, leading to the development of interoception-based interventions (IBIs). Searching PubMed and PsycINFO, we conducted the first systematic review of randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy of behavioral IBIs at improving interoception and target symptoms of mental disorders in comparison to a non-interoception-based control condition [CRD42021297993]. Thirty-one RCTs fulfilled inclusion criteria. Across all studies, a pattern emerged with 20 (64.5%) RCTs demonstrating IBIs to be more efficacious at improving interoception compared to control conditions. The most promising results were found for post-traumatic stress disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia and substance use disorders. Regarding symptom improvement, the evidence was inconclusive. The IBIs were heterogenous in their approach to improving interoception. The quality of RCTs was moderate to good. In conclusion, IBIs are potentially efficacious at improving interoception for some mental disorders. In terms of symptom reduction, the evidence is less promising. Future research on the efficacy of IBIs is needed.

Keywords: body awareness; interoception; interoception-based interventions; mental disorders; randomized-controlled trial.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. PRISMA flowchart of study selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Suksasilp C, Garfinkel SN. Towards a comprehensive assessment of interoception in a multi-dimensional framework. Biol Psychol. 2022;168:108262. - PubMed
    1. Berntson GG, Khalsa SS. Neural circuits of Interoception. Trends Neurosci. 2021;44:17–28. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Craig AD. Interoception: The sense of the physiological condition of the body. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2003;13:500–505. - PubMed
    1. von Mohr M, Fotopoulou A. The Cutaneous Borders of Interoception: Active and Social Inference of Pain and Pleasure on the Skin. The Interoceptive Mind: From Homeostasis to Awareness. Oxford University Press; New York, NY, US: 2019. pp. 102–120.
    1. Füstös J, Gramann K, Herbert BM, Pollatos O. On the embodiment of emotion regulation: Interoceptive awareness facilitates reappraisal. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2013;8:911–917. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms