Hugging and other forms of physical contact can benefit the physical and mental health of people of all ages - Photo: Love Panky
Hugging and other forms of physical contact may benefit the physical and mental health of people of all ages, according to a new review of 212 previous studies.
Hugging has positive physical and mental effects.
By combining the findings of all these studies, the team from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany and the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience got a broader picture of the benefits of touch.
“We are aware of the importance of touch as a health intervention,” says neuroscientist Julian Packheiser, from Ruhr University Bochum.
But despite much research, it remains unclear how to use touch optimally, what specific effects it may have, and what influencing factors are."
This new study, which included 12,966 participants across all the different studies, provides some clarity.
Touch has been shown to help reduce feelings of pain, depression, and anxiety. Positive effects have been observed in both children and adults.
While the type of touch (from cuddling to massaging) doesn't seem to matter much, touching the head or face seems to work best. Research shows that shorter, more frequent touches get more positive responses.
Interestingly, while touch from objects like weighted blankets, body pillows, or even robots may be beneficial for physical health, it is not so good for mental health. Touch from humans and animals tends to have both physical and mental benefits.
Touching must be consensual to be beneficial.
“The study clearly shows that touch can indeed be optimized,” says neuroscientist Christian Keysers of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. “But the most important factors are not necessarily the ones we suspected.”
Of course, while a large meta-analysis like this helps uncover broader patterns across populations, responses to touch still vary widely from person to person. The researchers also emphasize that touch needs to be consensual to be beneficial.
Yet for many of us, spending more time in physical contact with others can enhance many aspects of our health. The data suggest that perhaps it’s no surprise, considering touch is the first sense we develop, and one we often feel deprived of when we don’t have it.
“If you want to hug a family member or friend, don’t be shy, but the other person has to agree,” says Packheiser. The study was published in the journal Nature Human Behavior .
Research shows that infants also benefit from touch, but the positive effects are significantly greater when the touch comes from a parent.
As we get older, whether or not the touch comes from someone we know well becomes less important.
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