Feeling the Urge: Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Test the Relationship of Interoception With Disordered Eating and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

We used ecological momentary assessment to test the temporal relationship between interoception (the perception of internal body states) and self-injurious behavior (SIB), specifically eating disorders (ED) and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Adults (N = 128) reported SIB and interoceptive attention several times a day for 14 days. Higher average interoception is associated with lower risk for SIB, whereas higher momentary interoception is associated with higher risk for SIB. Furthermore, interoceptive attention appears to fluctuate rather than change, and greater instability of interoceptive attention is associated with SIB. Our results demonstrate that an individual's absolute level of interoceptive attention is less predictive of SIB than fluctuation in interoceptive attention. These findings point to the importance of future research examining the possible etiological role of interoceptive variability in SIB, as well as the development of interventions to target interoceptive lability as a modifiable risk factor for ED and NSSI.