Effects of couples positive massage programme on wellbeing, perceived stress and coping, and relation satisfaction

Abstract

Objectives: Although supporting preventative self-regulation and self-care activity for daily stress is important as dyadic coping, there seems a paucity of exploration of non-verbal interventions such as tactile communication. This preliminary experimental study assessed the efficacy of a short educational massage programme for healthy but stressed couples. The study aimed to investigate if the educational mutual massage (Positive Massage) programme has any acute and sustained effects on wellbeing, perceived stress and coping, and relationship satisfaction among couples. Design: A pseudo randomised two group design employing a delayed treatment element assessed the effects of the Positive Massage programme and subsequent at-home application. Thirtyeight participants completed a three-week massage course. Main Outcome Measures: Measurements of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, the Rhode Island Stress and Coping Inventory, and the Positive Feelings Questionnaire were collected online using Qualtrics at three time points (the start, the end, and three weeks after the course). Data were analysed with mixed ANOVAs. Results: Mental wellbeing, and perceived stress and coping significantly improved from before to after the Positive Massage programme. There was no significant decline after the cessation of the massage programme. Relationship satisfaction did not show significant changes from the initial assessment. Conclusions: The overall effects of the Positive Massage programme indicate the importance of developing further large scale studies of mutual massage as a safe and beneficial self-care activity. This innovative study has laid the groundwork for future studies into the possibility of mutual massage as a self-regulation dyadic coping strategy for home use to improve overall wellbeing.

Positive Massage for Couples’ Wellbeing and Relationships: The Bridge between Positive Psychology and Massage

“…Importantly, these effects were found for both receivers and givers of massage [41]. Similarly, the PM programme produced significant increases in mental wellbeing and perceived coping, with a strong trend toward increased relationship satisfaction also present [40]. Based on these positive results, a new term, "selves-care" that refers to an activity that simultaneously cares for a loved one and the self, was proposed and advocated as an approach to the enhancement of couples' wellbeing [41].…”

“…Considering all of the above, we refer now and hereafter to massage as a health modality using a caring touch. In the modern Western world home-based lay massage has been underused and understudied [40], largely due to the heavy dependence on professional massage and its therapeutic application. In contrast, the "Positive Massage" that we propose here as a PAI is a home-based lay massage aimed at promoting couples' wellbeing via enhancing their relationships.…”

“…Positive Massage (PM) is a health intervention, aiming to enhance interpersonal and intrapersonal wellbeing in close relationships through mutual lay massage [40] [41]. Instead of lengthy clinical professional massage therapy, PM has been created to be a self-help technique 3 , with a short (15 min) sequence of massage to be used in a home environment 4 The intention of PM is not to replace professional massage therapy, but to increase self-care skill as a preventative activity which may also enhance massage therapy effects by professionals.…”

“…To date, only two studies [40] [41] have explicitly investigated the effect of such reciprocal massage among healthy adults. The first study to explore the effect of PM demonstrated significant improvements in mental clarity coupled with a significant reduction of emotional stress.…”

“…Considering this factor, the ideal target population for PM may be those couples who are seeking both an increase of wellbeing and relationship satisfaction using tactile modality. A possible challenge for further research maybe difficulties in recruiting such dyads [70] who can attend the PM programme together [40]. Not only does mutual time availability but the willingness to learn new skills and practice, and the possession of a solid trust base will also influence the viability of the programme.…”