Interoceptive Attention Tendencies Predict Trait Anxiety in Undergraduate Students and Hospital Nurses Participating in Stress Management Programs

Interoceptive attention tendencies have been posited as the dimensions of change in body awareness gained through the acquisition of self-regulatory skills from engaging in contemplative and body-mind health practices such as mindfulness meditation, yoga, and relaxation training. However, efforts are still needed to confirm the model of the dimensions and to delineate the “positive” (adaptive) and “negative” (maladaptive) forms of attention to the body due to their relationships with anxiety. This study tests the factor and predictive incremental validity assumptions of positive body awareness through correlational and regression analysis of interoceptive attention tendencies measured by the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) with trait anxiety as the response variable measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data were analyzed from one-hundred and sixty-nine undergraduate students (n = 169; M age = 19.07, SD = 0.73) and sixty-six early-career nurses (n = 66, M age = 25.68, SD = 3.01) participating in stress management programs in southwestern Japan. Negative correlations between trait anxiety and the MAIA dimensions suggested divergent validity in both samples in line with previous studies, except for Noticing. Providing evidence that contrasts with other work on the instrument in Japan, Self-Regulation was found to negatively correlate with and predict trait anxiety with regressions that were consistent in direction with the original MAIA validation for both samples. Among hospital nurses, the regression coefficient for Body Listening was consistent in direction but shown to differ in magnitude from the original validation. Implications for these relationships as they relate to research on the MAIA are discussed.