Trait–state integration of interoception in preschool children: associations with cardiac recovery and regulation

Interoception plays an important role in self-regulation and embodied development, yet how relatively stable interoceptive capacities relate to momentary physiological responses in early childhood remains unclear. Recent perspectives distinguish between trait-level interoceptive capacity and state-level interoceptive processing. This study aimed to examine the relationships between trait-level interoceptive capacity, state-level responses, and post-activity physiological change in preschool children. Interoceptive functioning was examined in 38 typically developing preschool children aged 3–5 years. Trait-level capacity was assessed using the Dynamic Metacognitive Interoception Measure (DMIM). State-level responses were elicited using a brief Jumping Jack Paradigm, with heart rate recorded via smartphone-based photoplethysmography at baseline, post-activity, and recovery. Perceptual–physiological alignment was indexed as the discrepancy between perceived and physiological cardiac change, and post-activity physiological change was indexed by the recovery-to-baseline difference (T2 − T0). Repeated-measures analysis of variance, correlation analyses, and hierarchical regression analyses were used. Heart rate increased after activity and then partly returned toward baseline, F (2, 74) = 72.18, p < .001. DMIM total scores were not associated with heart rate reactivity (ΔHR), but were associated with lower recovery-to-baseline difference values (β = −0.32, p = .031) and lower perceptual–physiological discrepancy. Exploratory analyses indicated that Interoceptive Attention was associated with both the recovery-to-baseline difference and perceptual–physiological discrepancy, whereas Interoceptive Discrimination was associated with the recovery-to-baseline difference. Higher perceptual–physiological discrepancy was associated with higher recovery-to-baseline difference values. These findings suggest that interoceptive functioning in early childhood can be examined within a trait–state framework, with post-activity heart-rate differences providing an exploratory indicator of physiological change following activation.