The Relationship Between School-Age Children’s Self-Reported Perceptions of Their Interoceptive Awareness and Emotional Regulation: An Exploratory Study

Interoceptive awareness (IA) refers to one’s ability to perceive and recognize internal bodily signals. Our behavioral and emotional responses to interoceptive signals are determined by self-regulation. Therefore, IA and self-regulation have considerable impacts on children’s daily occupational engagement and performance. Nonetheless, the relationship between IA and self-regulation relevant to pediatric occupational therapy practice continues to lack empirical evidence. This study explores the association between school-age children’s self-reported IA, emotional regulation, and academic self-regulation. Twenty-five children completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for children (CERQ-k), the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness–Youth adapted version (MAIA-y), and the Academic Self-Regulation Scale; parents/caregivers completed a demographics questionnaire (n = 25). Data were analyzed using Spearman’s rho (ρ) correlation and linear regression analyses with bootstrapping. Nineteen significant correlations were identified between MAIA-y and CERQ-k subscales (ρ = −.724 to.700, p <.05) and 14 between MAIA-y and ASRS subscales (ρ =.448 to.687, p <.05). Two MAIA-y subscales (“not-distracting” and “self-regulation”) were predictive of cognitive emotional regulatory strategies (total variance = 33%, 74.1%; p <.05); one MAIA-y subscale (“trusting”) was predictive of children’s autonomous academic self-regulation (total variance = 64.1%; p =.005). The result demonstrates significant correlations in children’s self-reported IA, emotional regulation, and academic self-regulation. Therapists should consider assessing children’s IA to inform self-regulation goal setting and treatment planning.