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Cited by 17Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlPsychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsMental Health Research Topics

Estimating the stability of heartbeat counting in middle childhood: A twin study

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Murphy, Jennifer, Cheesman, Rosa, Gregory, Alice M., Lau, Jennifer, Ehlers, Anke, Catmur, Caroline, Bird, Geoffrey, Eley, Thalia C.·2019·Biological Psychology
DOI 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107764
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Abstract

There is growing interest in interoception, the perception of the body's internal state, and its relevance for health across development. Most evidence linking interoception to health has used the heartbeat counting task. However, the temporal stability of the measure, particularly during childhood, and the etiological factors that underlie stability, remain largely unexamined. Using data from the ECHO twin sample we estimated the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on the stability of heartbeat counting across two years (age 8-10), the longest time-frame examined. Heartbeat counting accuracy was modestly correlated across time, (r = .35) and accuracy improved with age. Non-shared environmental factors accounted for the most variance at both time points and were the main contributors to temporal stability of heartbeat counting. Future research should seek to identify these non-shared environmental factors and elucidate whether this relatively modest stability reflects variability of interoception across development or unreliability of the heartbeat counting task.

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  • Changes in interoception between the ages of 8-10 years were generally driven by improvements in interoceptive accuracy with age.

    “changes in interoception between the ages of 8–10 years were generally driven by improvements in interoceptive accuracy with age (Murphy, Cheesman, et al., 2019).”

    From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Murphy, Cheesman, et al., 2019

    The discussion passage indexed under Table 2 says that, in this sample, changes in heartbeat-counting performance from ages 8 to 10 were generally driven by improvement with age. The Abstract cautions that it remains unclear whether the change in task performance reflects a change in interoception itself or unreliability of the task. The claim extends the finding from heartbeat-counting performance to interoception more broadly. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • A substantial portion of stability in interoceptive accuracy between the ages of 8 and 10 years is accounted for by non-shared environmental factors.

    “more recent evidence suggests that a substantial portion of stability in interoceptive accuracy between the ages of 8 and 10 years is also accounted for by non-shared environmental factors”

    From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Murphy, Cheesman, et al., 2019

  • In childhood, modest correlations in HCT performance over one or two years have been observed.

    “In childhood, modest correlations in HCT performance over one or two years have been observed (Koch and Pollatos, 2014; Murphy, Cheesman, et al., 2019).”

    From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Murphy, Cheesman, et al., 2019

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Murphy, J., Cheesman, R., Gregory, A. M., Lau, J., Ehlers, A., Catmur, C., Bird, G., & Eley, T. C.
Affiliations
  • King's College London (GB)
  • Goldsmiths University of London (GB)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author
Eley, Thalia C.
ORCID
Venue
Biological Psychology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-11
Volume
148
Pages
107764
ISSN
0301-0511 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107764
OpenAlex
W2972973263
Cited by
17
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
FWCI
0.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Biological Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Goldsmiths (University of London) (acceptedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Economic and Social Research Council
  • National Institute for Health Research
  • Baily Thomas Charitable Fund
  • Medical Research Council
  • Wellcome Trust
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
Keywords
heartbeat counting, interoception, temporal stability, middle childhood, genetic factors, nonshared environment, twin studies, heartbeat perception, developmental changes
MeSH terms
Heart Rate Determination, Age Factors, Child, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Twins, Interoception

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