Date of Award

Winter 2026

Language

English

Embargo Period

1-7-2026

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School/Department

Department of Psychology

Program

Psychology (Master's)

First Advisor

Drew Anderson

Committee Members

Mitch Earleywine

Keywords

eating disorders, interoceptive awareness, anxiety sensitivity

Subject Categories

Clinical Psychology

Abstract

Interoceptive awareness (IA; e.g., the ability to perceive and interpret internal bodily sensations) is increasingly recognized as central to eating disorder (ED) psychopathology, yet findings remain mixed regarding whether heightened IA is protective or maladaptive. Across two studies using a sample of 654 college students (Mage = 18.74, SD = 1.56; 46% White; 58% female) from a large northeastern U.S. university, we examined (1) how specific IA facets relate to ED symptom severity, and (2) whether anxiety sensitivity (AS) helps explain these associations. In Study 1, linear regressions predicting Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire–7 (EDE-Q7) scores showed that nearly all MAIA-2 subscales were significantly associated with ED severity, though in different directions. Noticing, not-distracting, not-worrying, attention regulation, emotional awareness, and self-regulation were positively associated with greater ED symptoms (p < .05), whereas body trust was inversely associated with ED symptoms (β = −0.22, p < .001). Study 2 tested AS as a mediator and found significant partial mediation for five IA domains, which include noticing, not-distracting, not-worrying, emotional awareness, and body trust (p < .01). The largest indirect effect emerged for not-worrying, for which AS accounted for 35.2% of the total effect. No mediation was found for attention regulation, self-regulation, or body listening. Together, these studies challenge the assumption that greater IA is uniformly protective in EDs and highlight AS as a key psychological mechanism linking ED severity with maladaptive interoceptive patterns. Targeting AS may enhance interventions aimed at improving interoceptive functioning in individuals with ED symptoms.

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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