Interoception and Body Scan

NCT06237530 | Completed Phase 1

• 1 other identifier: 2569173
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 48
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Body scan meditation has been assumed to be an interoceptive intervention, and the evidence for its effects on interoceptive processes is unclear. Although this mindfulness based exercise typically involves focusing on some interoceptive signals such as breath, it also involves other bodily cues, such as somatosensory cues. The present study aimed to (1) investigate the feasibility of three online delivered mindfulness practices that differ in the signals targeted: visceral body scan (VBS), somatosensory body scan (SBS), and external (non body) meditation (ECM), and (2) gain insight into the potentially different effects of these interventions on interoceptive and other psychological outcomes in order to inform future full scale randomized controlled trials (RCT).

Conditions

Healthy

Keywords

body scan; interoception; interoceptive; mindfulness; somatosensory

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Adherence assessed by completed intervention sessions

  Percentage of completed daily sessions during the 7-day intervention

  Through study completion, a total of 7 days

• Meditation-related adverse effects assessed by a self-report questionnaire

  Meditation-Related Adverse Effect Scale - Mindfulness-Based Program. It includes 11 dichotomic items (yes/no questions), so scores ranges from 0 to 11, with higher scores indicating more adverse effects

  Immediately post-intervention

• Acceptability assessed by a satisfaction questionnaire

  Treatment Satisfaction Scale. It includes 5 items rated on Likert-point scale ranging from 0 to 10. Thus, total scores range from 0 to 50, with higher scores indicating greater acceptability of the intervention

  Immediately post-intervention

• Self-reported quality of the mindfulness practice

  Practice Quality-Mindfulness. It consists of 6 items rated on a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores reflecting a higher level of practice quality.

  Immediately post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes (10)

• Adaptive interoceptive sensibility style assessed by a questionnaire

  Immediately pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention

• Sensitivity and attention to interoceptive signals assessed by a questionnaire

  Immediately pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention

• Perceived Body Boundaries in bodily self-awareness assessed by a VAS

  Immediately pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention

• Spatial Frame of Reference in bodily self-awareness assessed by a VAS

  Immediately pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention

• Mindfulness trait assessed by a self-report questionnaire

  Immediately pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention

Study Arms (3)

Visceral Body Scan (VBS)

EXPERIMENTAL

The VBS consisted of a mindfulness exercise designed to bring awareness to visceral sensations in the cardiac, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urinary systems. These physiological systems were chosen because most of the paradigms developed in the literature to assess interoception focus on them (Khalsa et al., and they are widely recognized in the literature as interoceptive senses (Nord \& Garfinkel, 2022)

Behavioral: Visceral body scan (VBS)

Somatosensory body scan (SBS)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The SBS consisted of a mindfulness exercise designed to bring awareness to tactile (e.g., itching) and musculoskeletal (e.g. g., tension) sensations in different parts of the body, namely, the head and neck, back, arms, and legs. Body scan exercises typically focus on these types of bodily cues (in addition to breathing) (Williams, 2010).

Behavioral: Somatosensory body scan (SBS)

External control meditation (ECM)

SHAM COMPARATOR

The ECM consisted of a mindfulness exercise designed to bring awareness to external stimuli, including sounds and visual properties of the environment

Behavioral: External control meditation (ECM)

Interventions

Visceral body scan (VBS) BEHAVIORAL

The VBS consisted of a mindfulness exercise designed to bring awareness to visceral sensations in the cardiac, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urinary systems. These physiological systems were chosen because most of the paradigms developed in the literature to assess interoception focus on them (Khalsa et al., and they are widely recognized in the literature as interoceptive senses (Nord \& Garfinkel, 2022)

Also known as: Interoceptive body scan, Interoceptive meditation practice

Visceral Body Scan (VBS)

Somatosensory body scan (SBS) BEHAVIORAL

The SBS consisted of a mindfulness exercise designed to bring awareness to tactile (e.g., itching) and musculoskeletal (e.g. g., tension) sensations in different parts of the body, namely, the head and neck, back, arms, and legs. Body scan exercises typically focus on these types of bodily cues (in addition to breathing) (Williams, 2010).

Also known as: Exteroceptive body scan, Somatosensory meditation practice

Somatosensory body scan (SBS)

External control meditation (ECM) BEHAVIORAL

The ECM consisted of a mindfulness exercise designed to bring awareness to external stimuli, including sounds and visual properties of the environment.

Also known as: Non-body meditation practice, Visual and auditory mindfulness exercise

External control meditation (ECM)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age over 18
• being Spanish or English speakers
• Ability to use a computer or smartphone
• Daily access to computer or smartphone with an Internet connection

You may not qualify if:

• Being diagnosed with a severe psychiatric disorder (e.g., substance abuse, eating disorder, psychotic disorder)
• Severe visual or auditory difficulties that cannot be corrected with glasses or auditory aids
• Having a medical condition that prevents participation in this study
• Changes in psychotropic medication during the study
• Having been exposed to any extremely traumatic event that is being re-experienced or interfering during the last month
• Body image-related difficulties as indicated by scores above 3 on the Body Image as Source of Shame questionnaire.
• Regular meditation practice in the current moment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Valencia: lead

Study Sites (1)

Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, University of Valencia

Valencia, Valencia, 46010, Spain

Location

Study Officials

• Rosa M Baños, PhD

  Univeristy of Valencia

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 1
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Full Professor

Model Details: The investigators tested two different versions of the body scan (meditation practice), one focused on visceral signals -visceral body scan (VBS)- and the other on somatosensory signals -somatosensory body scan (SBS)- in comparison to an exteroceptive, non-body focused, control condition -external control meditation (ECM)-. To do so, an online approach was conducted, as it has been proved to be an effective strategy, while being more widely accessible and reducing costs and time.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 4, 2023
• First Posted: February 1, 2024
• Study Start: July 26, 2023
• Primary Completion: August 21, 2023
• Study Completion: August 21, 2023
• Last Updated: February 1, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-01

Locations

ES (1)