TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing body awareness and autonomic reactivity: Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Body Perception Questionnaire-Short Form (BPQ-SF)
AU - Cabrera, Ana
AU - Kolacz, Jacek
AU - Pailhez, Guillem
AU - Bulbena-Cabre, Andrea
AU - Bulbena, Antonio
AU - Porges, Stephen W.
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Body awareness and reactivity dysfunction are characteristic of a range of psychiatric disorders. Although the neural pathways communicating between the body and brain that contribute to these experiences involve the autonomic nervous system, few research tools for studying subjective bodily experiences have been informed by these neural circuits. This paper describes the factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity of the Body Awareness and Autonomic Reactivity subscales of the Body Perception Questionnaire-Short Form (BPQ-SF). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to data from three samples collected via the internet in Spain and the US and a college population in the US (combined n = 1320). Body awareness was described by a single factor. Autonomic reactivity reflected unique factors for organs above and below the diaphragm. Subscales showed strong reliability; converged with validation measures; and differed by age, sex, medication use, and self-reported psychiatric disorder. Post hoc analyses were used to create the 12-item Body Awareness Very Short Form. Results are discussed in relation to the distinct functions of supra- and sub-diaphragmatic autonomic pathways as proposed by the Polyvagal Theory and their potential dysfunction in psychiatric disorders.
AB - Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Body awareness and reactivity dysfunction are characteristic of a range of psychiatric disorders. Although the neural pathways communicating between the body and brain that contribute to these experiences involve the autonomic nervous system, few research tools for studying subjective bodily experiences have been informed by these neural circuits. This paper describes the factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity of the Body Awareness and Autonomic Reactivity subscales of the Body Perception Questionnaire-Short Form (BPQ-SF). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to data from three samples collected via the internet in Spain and the US and a college population in the US (combined n = 1320). Body awareness was described by a single factor. Autonomic reactivity reflected unique factors for organs above and below the diaphragm. Subscales showed strong reliability; converged with validation measures; and differed by age, sex, medication use, and self-reported psychiatric disorder. Post hoc analyses were used to create the 12-item Body Awareness Very Short Form. Results are discussed in relation to the distinct functions of supra- and sub-diaphragmatic autonomic pathways as proposed by the Polyvagal Theory and their potential dysfunction in psychiatric disorders.
KW - autonomic nervous system
KW - autonomic reactivity
KW - body awareness
KW - interoception
KW - polyvagal theory
U2 - 10.1002/mpr.1596
DO - 10.1002/mpr.1596
M3 - Article
SN - 1049-8931
VL - 27
JO - International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research
JF - International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research
IS - 2
M1 - e1596
ER -