From interoception to anxiety and social cognition: the mediating roles of intolerance of uncertainty and alexithymia

= 154) included additional measures of empathic tendencies and performance on an emotion recognition task analysed using Drift Diffusion Modelling (DDM). Maladaptive interoceptive attention styles were associated with elevated anxiety and greater empathic distress. Both IU and alexithymia significantly mediated the relationships between interoceptive sensibility, anxiety, and personal distress. Exploratory DDM analyses unexpectedly suggested more efficient perceptual processing in individuals with higher IU, reflected in enhanced recognition of positive emotional expressions. These findings highlight the complex interplay among interoceptive sensibility, IU, alexithymia, anxiety, and social cognition, and suggest that interventions targeting uncertainty sensitivity and emotional awareness may improve emotional well-being and social functioning.