A Meta-Analysis of Massage Therapy Research.
Abstract
Massage therapy (MT) is an ancient form of treatment that is now gaining popularity as part of the complementary and alternative medical therapy movement. A meta-analysis was conducted of studies that used random assignment to test the effectiveness of MT. Mean effect sizes were calculated from 37 studies for 9 dependent variables. Single applications of MT reduced state anxiety, blood pressure, and heart rate but not negative mood, immediate assessment of pain, and cortisol level. Multiple applications reduced delayed assessment of pain. Reductions of trait anxiety and depression were MT's largest effects, with a course of treatment providing benefits similar in magnitude to those of psychotherapy. No moderators were statistically significant, though continued testing is needed. The limitations of a medical model of MT are discussed, and it is proposed that new MT theories and research use a psychotherapy perspective.
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Skin-to-skin contact and other forms of tactile stimulation improve stress coping in animals and humans.
“Skin-to-skin contact and other forms of tactile stimulation improve stress coping in animals and humans [[3], [4], [5], [6]].”
From Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
Our finding that receiving hugs from people is effective irrespective of sharing a social identity with them is in line with the benefits of massage therapy and animal studies.
“Despite these potential explanations, our finding that receiving hugs from people is effective irrespective of sharing a social identity with them is in line with the benefits of massage therapy [4,5] and animal studies (e.g., Ref. [6]).”
From Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress: A randomized controlled trial on stress, physical touch, and social identity (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
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- Authors
- Moyer, C. A., Rounds, J., & Hannum, J. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- ORCID
- Rounds, James
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 2004-01
- Volume
- 130
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-18
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2126619797
- Cited by
- 665
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 39
- FWCI
- 3.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Biofield Effects and Biophysics
- Keywords
- massage, complementary and alternative medicine, state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression, pain, blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol, psychotherapy comparison, treatment effectiveness
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Complementary Therapies, Anxiety, Arousal, Depression, Humans, Massage, Psychotherapy
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