Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity
Background: Being touched by others improves stress coping. However, when touch from others is unavailable, feels uncomfortable, or is not considered to be safe (as in the COVID-19 pandemic), self-touch gestures, like placing a hand on the heart, may provide an alternative way to experience less str...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666497621000655 |
| _version_ | 1818383746026438656 |
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| author | Aljoscha Dreisoerner Nina M. Junker Wolff Schlotz Julia Heimrich Svenja Bloemeke Beate Ditzen Rolf van Dick |
| author_facet | Aljoscha Dreisoerner Nina M. Junker Wolff Schlotz Julia Heimrich Svenja Bloemeke Beate Ditzen Rolf van Dick |
| author_sort | Aljoscha Dreisoerner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Being touched by others improves stress coping. However, when touch from others is unavailable, feels uncomfortable, or is not considered to be safe (as in the COVID-19 pandemic), self-touch gestures, like placing a hand on the heart, may provide an alternative way to experience less strain. Methods and materials: In this study, 159 healthy participants (96 women, 62 men, and 1 non-binary person), aged 18–35 years, were exposed to a standardized psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test) to investigate whether self-soothing touch or receiving a hug from others has a buffering effect on their stress responses. In addition, the study explored whether the effectiveness of these interventions is moderated by participants' assignment to a “personal” or “social” identity condition. Participants provided salivary cortisol samples, wore an ECG to record their heart rate, and completed self-report measures on stress-related subjective-emotional states during the study. Results: For cortisol, mixed-effects regression models with Touch and Identity as between-subject factors and Time as the within-subject factor yielded a significant main effect for touch and a significant interaction of Touch x Time indicating that cortisol levels differed between the experimental touch interventions. Post-hoc contrast tests showed that participants in both touch conditions had lower cortisol levels after the stressor than those in the control conditions. Heart rates and self-reported measures of stress neither differed across touch nor identity conditions. The three-way interaction for Touch x Identity x Time was non-significant for either outcome measure. Discussion: These results are in line with previous work indicating that physical touch has protective effects on physiological stress responses but not necessarily on self-reported stress and suggest that self-soothing touch and receiving hugs are simple and yet potentially powerful means for buffering individuals' resilience against stress. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T03:11:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bafdd50985024ec9bc8f831610a16e63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-4976 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T03:11:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology |
| spelling | doaj.art-bafdd50985024ec9bc8f831610a16e632022-12-21T23:19:15ZengElsevierComprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology2666-49762021-11-018100091Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identityAljoscha Dreisoerner0Nina M. Junker1Wolff Schlotz2Julia Heimrich3Svenja Bloemeke4Beate Ditzen5Rolf van Dick6Institute of Psychology, Goethe University, Germany; Corresponding author. Zeißelstrasse 16a, 60318, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.Institute of Psychology, Goethe University, GermanyInstitute of Psychology, Goethe University, Germany; Labs & Methods, Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aestetics, GermanyInstitute of Psychology, Goethe University, GermanyInstitute of Language Studies, RWTH Aachen, GermanyInstitute for Medical Psychology, University Hospital Heidelberg, GermanyInstitute of Psychology, Goethe University, GermanyBackground: Being touched by others improves stress coping. However, when touch from others is unavailable, feels uncomfortable, or is not considered to be safe (as in the COVID-19 pandemic), self-touch gestures, like placing a hand on the heart, may provide an alternative way to experience less strain. Methods and materials: In this study, 159 healthy participants (96 women, 62 men, and 1 non-binary person), aged 18–35 years, were exposed to a standardized psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test) to investigate whether self-soothing touch or receiving a hug from others has a buffering effect on their stress responses. In addition, the study explored whether the effectiveness of these interventions is moderated by participants' assignment to a “personal” or “social” identity condition. Participants provided salivary cortisol samples, wore an ECG to record their heart rate, and completed self-report measures on stress-related subjective-emotional states during the study. Results: For cortisol, mixed-effects regression models with Touch and Identity as between-subject factors and Time as the within-subject factor yielded a significant main effect for touch and a significant interaction of Touch x Time indicating that cortisol levels differed between the experimental touch interventions. Post-hoc contrast tests showed that participants in both touch conditions had lower cortisol levels after the stressor than those in the control conditions. Heart rates and self-reported measures of stress neither differed across touch nor identity conditions. The three-way interaction for Touch x Identity x Time was non-significant for either outcome measure. Discussion: These results are in line with previous work indicating that physical touch has protective effects on physiological stress responses but not necessarily on self-reported stress and suggest that self-soothing touch and receiving hugs are simple and yet potentially powerful means for buffering individuals' resilience against stress.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666497621000655Tactile stimulationSelf-touchSocial supportSocial identitySelf-compassionStress |
| spellingShingle | Aljoscha Dreisoerner Nina M. Junker Wolff Schlotz Julia Heimrich Svenja Bloemeke Beate Ditzen Rolf van Dick Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology Tactile stimulation Self-touch Social support Social identity Self-compassion Stress |
| title | Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity |
| title_full | Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity |
| title_fullStr | Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity |
| title_short | Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity |
| title_sort | self soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress a randomized controlled trial on stress physical touch and social identity |
| topic | Tactile stimulation Self-touch Social support Social identity Self-compassion Stress |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666497621000655 |
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