Dueren, Anna L.; Bowling, Natalie; Vafeiadou, Aikaterini; Madrid-Valero, J.J.; Hammond, Claudia; Gregory, Alice M. and Banissy, Michael J.. 2023. Perspectives on interpersonal touch are related to subjective sleep quality. Journal of Sleep Research, 32(3), e13766. ISSN 0962-1105 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Affective touch has been reported for its calming effects; however, it is less clear whether touch is associated with sleep. Here, the relationship between different touch variables and self-reported sleep indicators was investigated. Data were extracted from the Touch Test, a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2020. Data from a sample of 15049 healthy adults from the UK (mean age = 56.13, SD = 13.8; 75.4% female) were analysed. Participants were asked to attribute positive, negative or no effects on sleep to hugs, strokes, massages, intimate touch, and sleep onset with and without touch. The time since last intentional touch, touch amount satisfaction, and childhood bed routine with hugs and kisses were assessed. Sleep quality, -duration, -latency, wake after sleep onset and diurnal preference were measured. Data were analysed using chi-square tests and logistic regressions. Affective touch before sleep was perceived to have positive effects on sleep. Touch recency emerged as a significant predictor for some sleep variables, with a longer timespan since last intentional touch relating to improved sleep quality, longer sleep duration, and shorter and fewer instances of waking up after sleep onset in some participants. Experiencing too much touch was related to lower sleep quality and higher instances of waking up after sleep onset. These findings highlight the importance of interpersonal touch for subjective sleep quality.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13766
Additional Information:	Funding: This project was supported by and run in collaboration with the Wellcome Collection. MJB is supported by the ESRC (grant no. ES/R007527/1).
Data Access Statement:	Data availability: The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at https://osf.io/ycvbq/?view_only=e1df1439c84a4a93a64e8e712a4e7d63
Keywords:	sleep; touch; ct-afferent; c-tactile; co-sleep
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event 1 October 2022 Accepted 9 November 2022 Published Online June 2023 Published
Item ID:	32303
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2022 10:16
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2024 17:58
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/32303

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