ADHD, Intuitive Eating, Interoceptive Awareness and Meaning Mindset: Are they interrelated?

Abstract

Intuitive eating is an approach often used for eating disorder recovery, and individuals with ADHD are at high risk for eating disorders. Individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may also have impaired interoceptive awareness, and interoceptive awareness may be associated with intuitive eating. It is also possible for meaning-making through a meaning mindset to be associated with interoceptive awareness, which could in turn facilitate intuitive eating. This study examined the relationships among ADHD symptoms, interoceptive awareness, intuitive eating, and meaning mindset. In particular, the indirect effects of interoceptive awareness and meaning mindset as mediators between ADHD symptoms and intuitive eating were investigated. Seventy-six adults between the ages of 18 and 63 years (mean age: 32.78 years) with varying levels of ADHD symptoms (37 participants with diagnosed ADHD) completed online questionnaires that included the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, Intuitive Eating Scale-2, Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, and Adult Identity and Meaning Scale. Findings showed that higher ADHD symptoms were related to lower interoceptive awareness. Higher interoceptive awareness was also related to more intuitive eating. In addition, higher meaning mindset was related to higher interoceptive awareness, higher intuitive eating, and lower ADHD symptoms. Interoceptive awareness mediated between ADHD symptoms and intuitive eating, and meaning mindset mediated between ADHD symptoms and intuitive eating. Results from this study suggest that interoceptive awareness may be impaired in individuals with ADHD, and that interoceptive awareness mediates between ADHD symptoms and intuitive eating. Also, meaning mindset may be considered for its clinical implications in supporting interoceptive awareness and intuitive eating.