Some days a hand on the shoulder is worth more than a thousand pieces of advice. A baby falling asleep on a parent’s chest, a hug when we come home: these gestures are so common that we rarely ask whether they really do us good. A group of European researchers asked exactly that, and pooled the data.
In 2024 Julian Packheiser and colleagues published in Nature Human Behaviour a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of touch-based interventions of various kinds (for example massage or skin-to-skin contact). The meta-analysis includes 137 studies, 85 on adults and 52 on newborns; with the studies included only in the systematic review, the total exceeds two hundred papers, and the abstract counts nearly 13,000 participants.
The overall effect is of medium size: g = 0.52 in adults and g = 0.56 in newborns (g is a standard measure of effect size; around 0.5 counts as medium). In adults the clearest benefits concern pain, anxiety and depression. In newborns, cortisol, the stress hormone, and weight gain. One finding stands out: in newborns, touch from parents worked better than touch from unfamiliar staff (g = 0.69 versus 0.39). In adults, however, there was no difference between touch from a familiar person and from a healthcare professional. More sessions were linked to larger benefits for depression, anxiety and pain; a longer single session did not increase the effect.
As always, caution is needed. The authors point to possible small-study bias, which may overestimate the effects, and to the impossibility of blinding participants and experimenters. Effects were measured right after the intervention: what happens in the long run remains to be understood. And these are systematically studied interventions, not every spontaneous hug of everyday life.
What can we do with this? The practical message is simple: physical closeness, when it is welcome, is a low-cost resource within everyone’s reach. A hand on the shoulder, a hug, a cuddle before bed: small, repeated gestures, always with the consent and respect of the person receiving them. And those who do not like physical contact can find other ways to show their presence: a phone call, time shared, careful listening.
And you, what gesture of closeness makes you feel better? Tell us in the comments: every answer can inspire someone else.
Sources
- Packheiser J., Hartmann H., Fredriksen K., Gazzola V., Keysers C., Michon F. (2024). A systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis of the physical and mental health benefits of touch interventions. Nature Human Behaviour, 8, 1088-1107. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01841-8.
Follow me on social media
If you found this article helpful, I share content like this every day on my channels too. Subscribe and follow along:
Lascia un commento