Open AccessAffective touch experiences across the lifespan: Development of the Tactile Biography questionnaire and the mediating role of attachment style
Author(s) -
Mercedes I. Beltrán,
H. Chris Dijkerman,
Anouk Keizer
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0241041
Subject(s) - attachment theory , psychology , mediation , narrative , set (abstract data type) , developmental psychology , biography , art , political science , computer science , law , programming language , literature , art history
The sense of touch develops early in life and becomes a determinant aspect of our personal narratives, providing crucial information about the world around us and playing a prominent role in affective and social interactions. In this study we aimed to explore whether individual differences in touch experiences across the lifespan are related to adult attachment styles and to perceived touch deprivation. For this we first developed an instrument, namely the Tactile Biography, to quantify individual differences in affective touch experiences throughout life. Secondly, we performed a set of regressions models and a mediation analysis to investigate the role of attachment in relation to both the tactile history and perceived touch deprivation. We found that experiences of affective touch during childhood and adolescence seem to be closely associated with adult attachment styles and adult social touch experiences. Avoidant attachment appears to serve as a mediator in the relationship between earlier (childhood/adolescent) and later (adult) affective touch experiences, as well as between earlier affective touch experiences and perceived touch deprivation. These findings offer further support to existing literature, providing novel insights for the fields of social affective touch and attachment research.