Sleep, Mental Health, and the Need for Physical and Real-Life Social Contact with (Non-)Family Members during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Bayesian Network Analysis.

: The forced social isolation implemented to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus was accompanied by a worsening of mental health, an increase in insomnia symptoms, and the emergence of 'skin hunger'-an increased longing for personal touch. This study aimed to enhance our understanding of the interconnection between sleep, mental health, and the need for physical (NPC) and real-life social contact (NRL-SC). : A total of 2827 adults participated in an online survey during the second COVID-19 lockdown.

Why do we hunger for touch? The impact of daily gentle touch stimulation on maternal-infant physiological and behavioral regulation and resilience.

We report the impact of a Gentle Touch Stimulation (GTS) program. Forty-three mothers provided daily 10-min GTS with C-tactile (CT) afferent optimal stroking touch, for 4 weeks to their 3-12 weeks old infants. CT-afferents are cutaneous unmyelinated, low-threshold mechanosensitive nerves hypothesized to underly the regulatory impact of affective touch.