Body Vigilance Scale

The Body Vigilance Scale (BVS) is a 4-item self-report measure assessing the degree to which individuals monitor and attend to bodily sensations. Developed by Schmidt and colleagues in 2006, the BVS captures a core feature of panic disorder and anxiety: heightened interoceptive attention and body scanning. This excessive monitoring maintains anxiety by amplifying the perception of normal bodily variations, creating a feedback loop of arousal and fear.