Abuse, emotion regulation, and interoception: what can studies on the brain-body interaction tell us?

Child abuse has been recognized as a potential risk factor for psychological and relational risk factor, related to emotion regulation throughout life. Specifically, this contribution focuses on emotion regulation as a potential risk or protection mechanism with respect to abusive behaviour on children and a potential psychopathological development (both selfand hetero-direct). Since emotion dysregulation is strictly related to a failure in interoception, understood as self-perception of signals that originate within the body and refer to its general state, it is desirable that clinical interventions on abuse victims also include an evaluation and possible enhancement of interceptive ability in order to support the person in restoring the functional connection between physiological state, self-perception and emotional regulation.