ArticleRoyal Society open science2021
Social touch deprivation during COVID-19: effects on psychological wellbeing and craving interpersonal touch.
Article in Royal Society open science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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.
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Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of Psychosocial Interventions on Loneliness Amongst Long-Term Care Residents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Pooled it
- Emotions in Times of Pandemic Crisis among Italian Children: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Long-term metabolic and cardiovascular health benefits from romantic partner touch in older adults.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- C-low threshold mechanoreceptors: a novel target for health-tech in an increasingly touch-deprived world.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2026Review
- Review
- Touch-Based Partner Yoga for Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Men in a Community Wellness Setting: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Program Evaluation of "The Studio".JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- MASSAG model: Towards an integrative neuroscience framework linking emotional trauma, pain, and mechanisms of force-based manipulations.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2026Review
- Vicarious Touch: A Potential Substitute for Social Touch During Touch Deprivation.European journal of social psychology · 2026Article
- Through Massage to the Brain-Neuronal and Neuroplastic Mechanisms of Massage Based on Various Neuroimaging Techniques (EEG, fMRI, and fNIRS).Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Newly validated touch experiences and attitudes questionnaire in German (TEAQ-G) is linked to social functioning, mental health, and hormonal stress regulation.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Reduced relationship-specific social touching and atypical association with emotional bonding in autistic adults.Molecular autism · 2025Article
- Paving the way for social touch at a distance: Sonifying tactile interactions and their underlying emotions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Psychosocial stress factors in families with preterm infants during the Covid-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- Infectious touching: Has COVID-19 changed our perceptions of social touch? A neural and behavioural study.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025Article
- Social touch deprivation during the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced well-being.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Can impersonal touch replace interpersonal touch? An investigation using the rubber hand illusion.PloS one · 2025Article
- Depression, anxiety, and stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study among Indonesian psychologists.PloS one · 2025Article
- Psychosocial and health stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with sleep quality.Psychology & health · 2024Article
- Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Social touch has positive effects on social affiliation and stress alleviation. However, its ubiquitous presence in human life does not allow the study of social touch deprivation 'in the wild'. Nevertheless, COVID-19-related restrictions such as social distancing allowed the systematic study of the degree to which social distancing affects tactile experiences and mental health. In this study, 1746 participants completed an online survey to examine intimate, friendly and professional touch experiences during COVID-19-related restrictions, their impact on mental health and the extent to which touch deprivation results in craving touch. We found that intimate touch deprivation during COVID-19-related restrictions is associated with higher anxiety and greater loneliness even though this type of touch is still the most experienced during the pandemic. Moreover, intimate touch is reported as the type of touch most craved during this period, thus being more prominent as the days practising social distancing increase. However, our results also show that the degree to which individuals crave touch during this period depends on individual differences in attachment style: the more anxiously attached, the more touch is craved; with the reverse pattern for avoidantly attached. These findings point to the important role of interpersonal and particularly intimate touch in times of distress and uncertainty.
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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.