Trial reportPsychosomatic medicine2019
Intimacy as Related to Cortisol Reactivity and Recovery in Couples Undergoing Psychosocial Stress.
Trial report in Psychosomatic medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Minimal couple intervention to improve psychobiological stress resilience.British journal of health psychology · 2025Trial
- Cardiac Impedance Reactivity and Stress Transmission in Community Couples Following Laboratory Interpersonal Trauma-Analog Induction: A Preliminary Study.Couple & family psychology · 2025Article
- Maternal caregiving stress and metabolic health: Sexual activity as a potential buffer.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Connecting through touch: Attitudes toward touch in pregnancy are associated with couples' sexual and affectionate behaviors across the transition to parenthood.Journal of social and personal relationships · 2024Article
- Touching a Mechanical Body: The Role of Anthropomorphic Framing in Physiological Arousal When Touching a Robot.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Hugs and Cortisol Awakening Response the Next Day: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Loneliness and diurnal cortisol levels during COVID-19 lockdown: the roles of living situation, relationship status and relationship quality.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Physical Intimacy in Older Couples' Everyday Lives: Its Frequency and Links With Affect and Salivary Cortisol.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2022Article
- Intimate Pride: a Tri-Nation Study on Associations between Positive Minority Identity Aspects and Relationship Quality in Sexual Minorities from German-Speaking Countries.International journal of applied positive psychology · 2022Article
- Affective Experience and Regulation via Sleep, Touch, and "Sleep-Touch" Among Couples.Affective science · 2022Article
- Partner Support and Connection Protect Couples During Pregnancy: A Daily Diary Investigation.Journal of marriage and the family · 2022Article
- Interaction Matters: The Effect of Touching the Social Robot PARO on Pain and Stress is Stronger When Turned ON vs. OFF.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2022Article
- Social Touch, Social Isolation, and Loneliness in Borderline Personality Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Comparison of Early-Stage Mothers and Childless Women Seeking Pregnancy: Experienced Stress, Resilience and Satisfaction with Relationship with the Partner.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Making love in the time of corona - considering relationships in lockdown.Nature reviews. Urology · 2020Article
- Ambulatory Blood Pressure Response to Romantic Partner Interactions and Long-Term Cardiovascular Health Outcomes.Psychosomatic medicine · 2020Article
- Calming Effects of Touch in Human, Animal, and Robotic Interaction-Scientific State-of-the-Art and Technical Advances.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Review
- Instructed Partnership Appreciation in Depression: Effects on Mood, Momentary Relationship Satisfaction, and Psychobiological Arousal.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Supportive Social Interactions in Infertility Treatment Decrease Cortisol Levels: Experimental Study Report.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Article
- Daily perceived stress and sexual health in couples with sexual interest/arousal disorder.International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHPArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe importance of recovery from stress is evident in times of high prevalence of stress-related diseases. Intimacy has been found to buffer psychobiological stress reactivity, suggesting that emotional and physical closeness might trigger biological mechanisms that underlie the health-beneficial effects of couple relationships. Here, we investigated whether couples' spontaneous expression of intimacy before and after psychosocial stress exposure in the laboratory reduced cortisol reactivity and accelerated recovery.
methodsData from 183 couples (366 individuals) were analyzed. Couples were randomly assigned to one of the following three experimental conditions: only the female partner (n = 62), only the male partner (n = 61), or both partners were stressed in parallel (n = 60) with the Trier Social Stress Test. Couples' behavior was videotaped and coded for expressions of intimacy, and saliva samples were taken repeatedly (nine times) to analyze cortisol levels before and after stress. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling.
resultsObserved partner intimacy reduced cortisol responses to stress in women (B = -0.016, SE = 0.006, p = .008), although this effect was eliminated among women using oral contraceptives. Observed partner intimacy also reliably accelerated cortisol recovery in men (B = -0.002, SE = 0.001, p = .023) and women (B = -0.002, SE = 0.001, p = .016).
conclusionsSpontaneous nonverbal expressions of intimacy seem to regulate the effects of acute environmental demands on established biological indices of stress response.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.