Impact of closeness, affective touch and satisfaction with the couple´s support on healthy behaviors

Abstract

Introduction: The couple has extremely positive physical and psychological effects, especially when there is closeness, due to the experienced well-being, affective touch, which enriches the expression of compression and satisfaction with the support of the couple, since there will be greater motivation to perform healthy behaviors. Objective: Identify the magnitude, examine the differences and know the degree of association of closeness, affective touch and satisfaction with the support received from the couple in the use of healthy behaviors. Method: We worked with a non-probability sample of 194 Mexican men and 194 Mexican women who were members of a heterosexual couple relationship (age M = 37), with minimum middle school studies. A battery composed of validated psychological measurement instruments for the Mexican population was applied and a series of analysis of variance was performed with Scheffe´s posterior tests and Pearson´s product-moment correlations. Results: From the results, it is highlighted that the groups with the greatest affective touch and satis faction with the support received employ greater healthy behaviors of activity and relaxation. On the other hand, for women, closeness is related to greater Activity-relaxation behaviors (0,168* according to Pearson). For men, greater satisfaction with the support of their partner will lead to more caring behaviors (0,157* according to Pearson).