Background: Network modeling is considered an effective method for elucidating the complex relationships between emotional states and their symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the dynamic interaction between interoceptive sensibility and self-management behavior over time in patients with stroke, using longitudinal and cross-lagged network analyses. Methods: Data were obtained from three follow-up records of 417 patients with stroke at a tertiary hospital in XX City between July 2024 and June 2025. The Self-Management Behavior Scale and the Multidimensional Intrasensory Awareness Assessment Scale were used to evaluate patients’ self-management behavior and interoceptive sensibility, respectively. Symptom-level interactions at each time point were analyzed using network analysis, and cross-lagged panel network analysis was used to investigate the temporal dynamics and bidirectional relationship between interoceptive sensibility and self-management behavior. Results: Network analysis revealed that the number of nonzero connections at time points T1, T2, and T3 was 62, 29, and 17, respectively. The core symptom “attention regulation” (IS4) was consistently and significantly stronger than the other symptoms. The key roles were determined using the cross-lagged symptom network analysis. In T1–T2, “trust” (IS8) was the most predictive variable. “Trust” (IS8) and “body listening” (IS7), “social and interpersonal management” (SEM7), and “daily life management” (SEM6) formed a negative feedback loop. In T2–T3, “Trust” (IS8) is the most predictive, positively associated with “worrying” (IS3), “social and interpersonal management” (SEM7), and “noticing” (IS1). It indirectly affects “disease management” (SEM1) via IS3. In T1–T3, “social and interpersonal management” (SEM7) was the most predictive, associated with “diet management” (SEM3), and indirectly affects “self-regulation” (IS6) and “attention regulation” (IS4) via SEM3. Conclusion: This study identified a dynamic bidirectional association between self-management behavior and interoceptive sensibility in patients with stroke, providing an important reference for the development of targeted interventions and public health strategies to improve self-management behavior in patients with stroke.
Guo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.