The Association of Embracing with Daily Mood and General Life Satisfaction: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Packheiser, Julian; Malek, Imke Marlene; Reichart, Jacqueline Sophia; Katona, Laura; Luhmann, Maike; Ocklenburg, Sebastian

doi:10.1007/s10919-022-00411-8

Cited by 9 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…In a study that used a smart phone ecological momentary assessment (repeatedly collecting data on people's thoughts and behaviors) over seven days (N=94), hugging (embracing) was notably more frequent on weekends when it buffered against acute stress [12]. Blood pressure was decreased as well as infection risk which was related to decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines.…”

Section: Huggingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Touching Reduces Pain and Stress: A Narrative Review

Field

2023

J Clin Psychol Neurol

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This narrative review involved entering the terms touching, massage, pain and stress on PubMed and PsycINFO literature search engines. The search yielded 47 studies that are summarized here. The prevalence of touching has varied widely across cultures from a low of 57% in China to a high of 100% in Austria. Touching has been more prevalent in relationships with partners and children and was more diverse in warmer, less conservative and religious countries and among younger, female and liberal people. The three predominant forms of touching that appear in this literature include handholding primarily for painful conditions, hugging (embracing) for stressful conditions and massaging for both painful and stressful conditions. Other less prevalent literature addresses the effects of COVID-19 on touching, touching by robots, and negative reactions to touching. Unlike earlier literature, most of the researchers have either measured or theorized underlying brain pathways for touching reducing pain and stress. Most of this research has been conducted in the laboratory as opposed to being naturalistic, so it is not clear how generalizable the data are to lifelike situations.

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Section: Huggingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Touching Reduces Pain and Stress: A Narrative Review

Field

2023

J Clin Psychol Neurol

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“…Based on this, Heatley Tejada et al concluded that lower rates of loneliness of individuals in relationships might be caused by the availability of physical contact 13 . Similarly, singles were found to receive stronger benefits to their mood than individuals in a relationship when embracing 15 . Further supporting Heatley Tejada et al’s conclusion, the amount of daily touch within one’s relationship has been found to predict well-being six months later, with the amount of touch positively associated with well-being 22 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Subsequent completion of a brief loneliness scale revealed lower scores of neglect in those in the treatment group, which were attributed to the touch by the experimenter 13 . Supportively, daily embraces were found to reduce the negative effects of loneliness on mood 15 . Another study found that the mere sight of a leg being touched activated the same region of participants’ brains as when the person was physically touched, suggesting the sight of touch may provide similar results to actual touch 14 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Additionally, emotional stability may moderate extraversion; people high in extraversion and low in emotional stability show lower levels of life satisfaction 28 . Moreover, emotional stability has been positively associated with daily mood 15 . This suggests that individuals high in extraversion and low in emotional stability may be more prone to loneliness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An investigation of simulated and real touch on feelings of loneliness

Gray

Roberts

2023

Sci Rep

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As a social species, humans deprived of contact find loneliness a potentially distressing condition. Recent research emphasises the influence of touch on alleviating loneliness. This research found that touch reduces feelings of neglect, a subscale of loneliness. Affectionate touch, which demonstrates care or affection, has been previously linked to well-being in couples. Here, we investigated whether the effect of simulated touch during a video conversation might be sufficient to influence feelings of loneliness. Sixty participants answered a survey about their home life and relationships, including items that assessed the frequency of touch and feelings of loneliness. Following this, they participated in an online video call with three conditions: audio only, audio and video, or audio, video with simulated touch (a virtual ‘high-five’). Finally, immediately after the call, they repeated the loneliness questionnaire. We found that loneliness scores were reduced following the call, but there was no difference among conditions and no effect of a virtual touch. However, we did find a significant association between the frequency of touch in a relationship and the expression of loneliness, with individuals in low-touch relationships having loneliness scores more comparable to single participants than to those in high-touch relationships. Additionally, extraversion played a major role in moderating the effect of touch in relationships. These results emphasise the importance of physical contact in lowering feelings of loneliness within relationships and the ability of calls to lower feelings of loneliness, regardless of whether they include video or simulated touch.

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“…Affection Exchange Theory argues that we use affective touch in favour of our survival ( Floyd et al, 2018 ). For instance, gentle touch has been found to lower anxiety, stress, depressive symptoms and improve sleep patterns ( Weze et al, 2007 ) and hugging is reported to promote a better mood and life satisfaction ( Packheiser et al, 2022 ). Affective touch is also used in treatment settings and links to improved patients’ health (e.g., reduced anxiety) and patient-therapist/carer communication ( Fleischer et al, 2009 ; Kim and Buschmann, 1999 ; Williams, 2001 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing individual differences in attitudes towards touch in treatment settings: Introducing the touch & health scale

Vafeiadou

Bowling

Hammond

et al. 2022

Health Psychology Open

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Individuals commonly receive touch in treatment settings, but there is limited research on how they perceive it. The current project sought to address this gap by: 1) developing the Touch & Health Scale (THS) - a novel instrument to measure attitudes to touch in treatment settings 2) assessing inter-individual differences in THS scores, and 3) examining the association between individuals’ THS scores and wellbeing. Data of a large U.K. adults sample ( N > 12,000) were used. THS showed Cronbach’s α between 0.636 and 0.816 and significant correlations ( p < 0.001) with day-to-day attitudes to touch. THS scores differed as a function of extraversion and avoidant attachment style. Participants with more positive attitudes to touch in treatment settings showed greater wellbeing. Overall, the study highlights the importance of a personalised approach to touch in treatment settings and provides a new scale that may act as a screening tool for this purpose.

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The Association of Embracing with Daily Mood and General Life Satisfaction: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Cited by 9 publications

References 63 publications

Touching Reduces Pain and Stress: A Narrative Review

Touching Reduces Pain and Stress: A Narrative Review

An investigation of simulated and real touch on feelings of loneliness

Assessing individual differences in attitudes towards touch in treatment settings: Introducing the touch & health scale

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