ArticlePloS one2022
Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis of the physical and mental health benefits of touch interventions.Nature human behaviour · 2024Pooled it
- Physiological and Psychometric Assessment of a Multimodal e-Motion Training in Women.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- From Molecules to Meaning: Integrating Neuropeptides, Sociostasis, and Hormesis in the Brain-Heart Axis.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- HPA/HPG axes dysfunction: assessing the interrelations between diminished ovarian reserve and mental health.Journal of ovarian research · 2026Review
- Beyond words: the association of hugging with loneliness, social isolation, and social withdrawal. Evidence from the general adult population in Germany based on a cross-sectional survey.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Kissing as a Protective Factor Against Decreased Salivary pH: Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Love under lockdown: How changes in time with partner impacted stress and relationship outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of social and personal relationships · 2023Article
- The Association of Embracing with Daily Mood and General Life Satisfaction: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.Journal of nonverbal behavior · 2022Article
- Broadening the scope: Increasing phenotype diversity in laterality research.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Stress is omnipresent in our everyday lives. It is therefore critical to identify potential stress-buffering behaviors that can help to prevent the negative effects of acute stress in daily life. Massages, a form of social touch, are an effective buffer against both the endocrinological and sympathetic stress response in women. However, for other forms of social touch, potential stress-buffering effects have not been investigated in detail. Furthermore, the possible stress-buffering effects of social touch on men have not been researched so far. The present study focused on embracing, one of the most common forms of social touch across many cultures. We used a short-term embrace between romantic partners as a social touch intervention prior to the induction of acute stress via the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test. Women who embraced their partner prior to being stressed showed a reduced cortisol response compared to a control group in which no embrace occurred. No stress-buffering effect could be observed in men. No differences between the embrace and control group were observed regarding sympathetic nervous system activation measured via blood pressure or subjective affect ratings. These findings suggest that in women, short-term embraces prior to stressful social situations such as examinations or stressful interviews can reduce the cortisol response in that situation.
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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.