Touching and Touch Deprivation During a COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Touching your kids and your partner, self-touching, and touch deprivation have had different effects on individuals during a COVID-19 lockdown. In this Survey Monkey study conducted during a COVID-19 lockdown (N= 260 respondents), 26% said they were touch deprived a lot, 21% said they were touching their kids a lot, 33 % touching their partner a lot, and 32% self-touching a lot (e.g. yoga and stretching). Correlation analyses suggested that touch deprivation was related to scores on the Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, Sleep Disturbances and PTSD scales. The three types of touching were positively related to scores on the Health Scale, at home projects, and outdoor exercising with others. Touching partner was also related to lower scores on the Stress, Depression, and PTSD Scales and Self-touching was related to lower scores on the Fatigue and Sleep Disturbance Subscales. The results of these data analyses are limited by the self-reported data from a non-representative, cross-sectional sample. Nonetheless, they highlight the negative effects of touch deprivation and the positive effects of touching your kids and partners and self-touch during a COVID-19 lockdown.