The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 38 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Touch attenuates infants' physiological reactivity to stress
Abstract
Animal studies demonstrate that maternal touch and contact regulate infant stress, and handling during periods of maternal deprivation attenuates the stress response. To measure the effects of touch on infant stress reactivity during simulated maternal deprivation, 53 dyads were tested in two paradigms: still‐face (SF) and still‐face with maternal touch (SF+T). Maternal and infant cortisol levels were sampled at baseline, reactivity, and recovery and mother’s and infant’s cardiac vagal tone were measured during the free play, still‐face, and reunion episodes of the procedure. Cortisol reactivity was higher among infants in the SF condition and while cortisol decreased at recovery for infants in the SF+T, it further increased for those in the SF. Vagal tone showed a greater suppression when SF was not accompanied by maternal touch. Touch synchrony during free play was associated with higher infant vagal tone, whereas touch myssynchrony – maternal tactile stimulation while the infant gaze averts – correlated with higher maternal and infant cortisol. In humans, as in mammals, the provision of touch during moments of maternal unavailability reduces infants’ physiological reactivity to stress.
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“Higher RSA during mother-infant free play has been associated with more optimal maternal care and higher infant social engagement (34 -36).”
From Oxytocin administration to parent enhances infant physiological and behavioral readiness for social engagement (2012) · cites this paper as [36]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Feldman, R., Singer, M., & Zagoory, O.
- Affiliations
- Bar-Ilan University (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Feldman, Ruth
- ORCID
- Feldman, Ruth
- Venue
- Developmental Science
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-02-02
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 271-278
- ISSN
- 1363-755X (ISSN-L)
- 1467-7687
- OpenAlex
- W2139703134
- Semantic Scholar
- ea8d6c7e5f4e38a3c7523178d12ad12d177bdc67
- Cited by
- 436
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 57 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 31.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Developmental Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Israel Science Foundation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Infant Health and Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Keywords
- maternal touch, cortisol, vagal tone, still-face paradigm, maternal deprivation, gaze aversion, physiological stress response, mother-infant dyads
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Child Development, Female, Heart, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Infant, Male, Maternal Deprivation, Mother-Child Relations, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Touch, Vagus Nerve, Infant Behavior, Young Adult
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