Interoception in preschoolers: New insights into its assessment and relations to emotion regulation and stress

Interoception may play an important role for emotion regulation and stress, thereby
affecting mental health in children and adults. Yet, little is known on interoception in
preschool children. Therefore, we investigated interoceptive accuracy using the adapted
Jumping Jack Paradigm (JJP) and its relationship with emotion regulation and stress. In Study
I, 40 preschoolers completed the JJP and an emotion regulation task, demonstrating a positive
relationship between interoceptive accuracy and emotion regulation at trend level (R² = 0.231,
p = .023; β = .278, p = .073). In Study II, 31 preschoolers completed the adapted JJP before
and after an acute laboratory stress test. Higher total cortisol output following acute stress
induction were associated with reduced interoceptive accuracy (r = -0.670, p = .017).
Extending earlier findings in adults and school-children, the relationship of interoceptive
accuracy with emotion regulation and stress highlights the importance to investigate
interoception in early childhood.