Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention

The Body Signals Attention and Worry Scale (BSAWS) was devised with the intent to measure on the one hand trait health concerns and worry about body signals and on the other hand to measure state personal experiences of body cues during a specific task or behaviour, in this instance a heartbeat- counting task. Participants were asked to rate on a 7-point Likert scale (ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree) how much they agreed with 14 statements, measuring four factors. The four factors were adopted to support a circumplex models of affect, that considers emotions as valenced and both context-dependent and trait-determined. The first factor, trait neuroticism about bodily signals, was composed of 3 items that measured the general worry associated with bodily signals. One example item is “If I feel any discomfort I start to worry that something might be wrong”. A higher score indicates trait tendency to be hypochondriac. The second factor, trait unconcern (neutral) about bodily signals, was composed of 4 items, which measured the behaviour of deemphasising the importance of bodily signals. One example item is “If I have a bodily sensation I rarely wonder what it means”. A higher score on this dimension indicates a lesser tendency to worry about bodily signals. The third factor, state worry (about heartbeat signals), was composed of 4 items that measure anxiety to specific bodily sensations in the moment. One example item is “When I was counting my heartbeats all sorts of negative thoughts went through my mind”. A higher score on this subscale indicates more distress associated with performing the heartbeat counting task. The fourth factor, state mindfulness (to heartbeat signals), was composed of 3 items, which measured the enhanced calm associated with observing internally the bodily signal during the (heartbeat counting) task.One example item is “Listening to my heart enabled me to focus on the moment”. A higher score on this subscale indicates better concentration and focus associated with feeling bodily signals.