MATERNAL TOUCH RELATES TO FACE SENSITIVITY IN CHILDREN

Abstract

Research in non-human animals has established a link between maternal touch and offspring social development. We asked whether such a link exists in humans. To address this question, we recorded tactile interactions between mothers and their 4-6 year old children (N=37) in a 10 minute play session. Following this session the child completed a behavioural task, during which they categorized geometrical objects overlaid on distractor images of faces or houses. Face sensitivity was quantified as increased distraction by faces relative to houses. The frequency of maternal touch positively correlated with child face sensitivity. In an effort to dissociate long-term effects from short-term effects, maternal touch was categorized as intentional and incidental. Despite being less frequent, only intentional touch significantly correlated with child face sensitivity. These results support the possibility that, as with non-human animals, maternal touch in humans may affect children's early social development via its effect on face sensitivity.