Self-reported body awareness: validation of the Postural Awareness Scale and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (version 2) in a non-clinical adult French-speaking sample

Body awareness refers to the individual ability to process signals originating from within the body, which provide a mapping of the body’s internal landscape (interoception) and its relation with space and movement (proprioception). The current study evaluates psychometric properties and validate in French two self-report measures of body awareness: the Postural Awareness Scale (PAS), and the last version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness questionnaire (version 2, MAIA-2). We collected data in a non-clinical, adult sample (N=308) using online survey, and a subset of the original sample (n=122) also completed the retest control. Factor analyses of the PAS supported the same two-factor structure as previously published versions (in other languages). For the MAIA-2, factor analyses suggested that a six-factor structure, excluding Not-Worrying and Not-Distracting factors, could successfully account for a common general factor of self-reported interoception. We found satisfactory internal consistency, construct validity, and reliability over time for both the PAS and the MAIA-2. Altogether, our findings suggest that the French version of the PAS and the MAIA-2 are reliable self-report tools to assess both components of body awareness (proprioception and interoception dimension, respectively).