The more frequent, the more touch can improve people’s well-being
You may have already heard how comforting it is to get a hug from a friend or a massage on the back of your neck when you’re stressed. But can touch really help a person feel better, and does it matter who touches it or how that touch feels?
To explore these questions, researchers at Social brain laboratory from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and Essen University Hospital in Germany conducted a large-scale analysis of studies exploring the effects of tactile interventions. The results were published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.
Advantages of consensual contact
Individual studies often focus only on specific cases and have contradictory results. Combining all these studies for a large-scale analysis yields a clearer answer: yes, touch substantially improves physical and mental well-being.
Among the main benefits of consensual contact are the reduction of pain, anxiety, depression and stress in adults.
Who benefits most from touch?
But in fact, people with physical or mental health problems (and therefore more in need of support) benefit more from contact than healthy adults. “This is particularly relevant considering how often tactile interventions are overlooked,” comments Julian Packheiser, first author of the study.
The study clearly shows that touch can indeed be optimized, but the most important factors are not necessarily the ones researchers suspect.
Does the masseuse also work?
According to the analysis, the person who touches you, how they touch you, and the duration of the touch don’t make much difference in terms of impact. A long-lasting massage from a therapist can therefore be as effective as a quick hug from a friend. At least until the frequency of intervention is considered. The more frequently a tactile intervention is offered, the greater the impact. A quick hug can therefore have an even greater impact than a massage if offered more frequently.
Does non-human touch help?
Another question was whether the tactile intervention should be human. And the results indicate that interventions with objects or robots can be equally effective in improving physical well-being. “There are many people who need improvements in their well-being, perhaps because they feel lonely, but also because they may be suffering from clinical problems. These results indicate that a tactile robot, or even a simple weighted blanket, has the potential to help these people”, explains another author, researcher Frédéric Michon.
However, the benefits of robot and object interventions are less effective for mental well-being. Mental health disorders such as anxiety or depression may therefore require human contact, perhaps due to the emotional component associated with touch.
And contact with animals?
While researchers were equally curious about human-animal contact, studies exploring this question are still lacking. “It would be useful to see whether touching an animal or a pet could improve well-being and, conversely, whether they would also benefit from it, but unfortunately there are simply not enough studies, or adequately controlled studies, to be able to draw any conclusions. general information about these topics,” explains Michon.
Interventions for newborns
When the team examined the impact of touch on newborns, they found that they also benefited greatly. But in this case the person is more important: the benefits of touch are greater if carried out by a parent than if carried out by a healthcare professional. This finding could also be important for reducing mortality rates among premature babies.
What is yet to be discovered
Due to the lack of studies it has been difficult to draw conclusions about children and adolescents. “Large-scale studies like this help us draw more general conclusions, but they also help us identify where research is lacking,” explains Michon.
“We hope that our findings can guide future research to explore lesser-known questions. This includes animal touch, but also touch across ages and in specific clinical contexts, such as autistic patients, another category that has not been explored extensively.”
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
