Exploring the Relationship between Anxiety Sensitivity, Interoceptive Sensibility and Psychopathology: A Network Analysis Approach

Interoceptive sensitivity (IS) –the beliefs related to noticing, appraising and regulating bodily signals – and Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) – the tendency to interpret anxiety-related symptoms negatively –have been frequently associated with psychopathology. Our goal was to evaluate the associations between these constructs and psychopathological symptoms using network analysis. Data from 438 participants were collected online, assessing psychopathology with the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), IS with the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA-2), and AS with the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3). We found inter-dimensional connections between: i) the Cognitive AS and the psychoticism and obsession-compulsion traits of the SCL-90; ii) the Social AS and the Trust component of the MAIA-2 and the Interpersonal Sensitivity dimension of the SCL-90. These findings suggest that AS may be more closely linked to psychopathological symptoms than IS, suggesting that catastrophic interpretations of anxiety could significantly contribute to the development and maintenance of psychopathology.