Identifying and regulating emotions after acquired brain injury: the role of interoceptive sensibility

Lorena Desdentado; Marta Miragall; Roberto Llorens; María Dolores Navarro; Rosa M Baños

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1268926

Identifying and regulating emotions after acquired brain injury: the role of interoceptive sensibility

Front Psychol. 2023 Dec 21:14:1268926. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1268926. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Lorena Desdentado^{1

2

3}, Marta Miragall^{2

3}, Roberto Llorens⁴, María Dolores Navarro⁵, Rosa M Baños^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Polibienestar Research Institute, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
² CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
³ Department of Personality, Evaluation, and Psychological Treatments, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
⁴ Neurorehabilitation and Brain Research Group, Institute for Human-Centered Technology Research, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
⁵ IRENEA, Instituto de Rehabilitación Neurológica, Fundación Vithas, Valencia, Spain.

Abstract

Introduction: Interoceptive deficits are associated with difficulties in identifying and regulating emotions. However, research on interoception after acquired brain injury (ABI) is scarce, and its relationship with emotional difficulties in this population is unknown. This study aimed to (1) examine differences in self-reported alexithymia, performance-based emotional awareness, emotion regulation, depression, and interoceptive sensibility between ABI and control individuals; and (2) analyze the role of adaptive interoceptive dimensions in these emotional processes after ABI.

Methods: Forty-three individuals with ABI and 42 matched control individuals completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness-2, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

Results: Compared to the control group, individuals with ABI showed reduced tendency to ignore unpleasant sensations increased severity of depressive symptoms, as well as tendencies to have greater difficulties in emotion regulation and lower emotional awareness. Additionally, interoceptive dimensions such as trusting, as well as not-distracting from and not-worrying about bodily sensations, played a relevant role in explaining lower alexithymia and difficulties in emotion regulation. Moreover, lower alexithymia and emotion dysregulation were related to less depressive symptoms. These relationships were invariant across ABI and control individuals.

Discussion: Although individuals with ABI may have different levels of emotional abilities compared to non-ABI individuals, the relationship patterns between interoceptive and emotional processes appear to be similar between the two groups. This study suggests the potential benefit of addressing both interoceptive and emotional difficulties in treatments targeting such prevalent sequelae of ABI as depressive symptoms.

Keywords: acquired brain injury; alexithymia; depressive symptoms; emotion regulation; emotional awareness; interoception; interoceptive sensibility.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. LD is supported by grant FPU18/01690 funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/10.13039/501100011033 and by “European Social Fund - Investing in your future.” RL is funded by Conselleria d’Innovació, Universitats, Ciència i Societat Digital of Generalitat Valenciana (CIDEXG/2022/15). The funding sources were not involved in the study design, the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, the writing of the report, or the decision to submit the article for publication.