Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) in a Danish population - preprint

Body awareness is used as a term for the ability to pay attention to signals from the body and use them in self-regulatory ways. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) is the most comprehensive self-report measure of body awareness. As such, it has been translated into many languages and validated in many countries. Aim: The aim of the present study was to translate MAIA into Danish, examine its psychometric properties and validate its ability to discriminate between subjects with different levels of proficiency in mind-body practices. Method: The instrument was translated, following a recommended five step procedure, and tested in a sample of 507 students with varying degrees of experience with mind-body practices. Confirmatory factor analyses with competing conceptual models and analyses of internal consistency were conducted. Scores were correlated with indicators of mind-body experience. Results: An eight-factor model, identical to the one put forward in the original English version, provides the best fit. Most scales have adequate to good internal consistency and correlates as hypothesized with mind-body experience. Conclusion: The Danish MAIA is on par with the English version with respect to psychometric quality and is recommended as a research tool.