In this webpage you can find the most updated information on the PIQ.
The PIQ is a self-report measure assessing parents’ ability to notice and respond to their children’s internal bodily signals and states – parental interoception. This is the first self-report scale designed to measure this novel concept, consisting of 5 subscales and 24 items, initially validated for parents of children aged 0 to 10 years.
The Questionnaire: Parental Interception Questionnaire (PIQ)
Interoception, the awareness and processing of internal bodily-signals, plays a fundamental role in homeostasis and emotion-regulation. Despite this, current evidence does not yet explain the mechanisms underlying interoceptive development. Some theories suggest that parent-child interactions play a crucial role; however, direct evidence and related instruments are currently lacking.
The PIQ can be a useful tool for researchers investigating interoception in a developmental or parental context. In conjunction with other behavioural and/or observational measures, it may contribute to enrich our understanding of the parental role in interoception development, how parents support their children’s development of self-regulation, and help identify individual differences in these processes. Although it is not intended as a clinical or educational screening tool, its applications can extend to research in the fields of developmental psychology and health, psychophysiology, and epidemiology, including, for example, longitudinal investigations into potential intergenerational effects of parental interoception on child development.
Preprint
You can read more about the development and initial validation of the questionnaire in our preprint:
Villegas, C., Tanzer, M., Koukoutsakis, A., & Fotopoulou, A. (2025, April 2). Development and validation of the Parental Interoception Questionnaire (PIQ). https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/76spt_v1
Contact information
For any queries please contact:
Carolina Villegas Martínez
carolina.martinez.19@ucl.ac.uk
Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology Department
University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
Permission of usage and copyright
The PIQ is available without charge and no written permission is required for its use. Its usage assumes agreement with the following:
- Appropriate citation is provided
- Any modifications by the users are clearly identified
If you modify the questionnaire for your research (including translations) please let us know for our records.