Biobehavioral effects of therapeutic touch.
OBJECTIVE
To document immediate and short-term biobehavioral effects of therapeutic touch (TT), estimate the magnitude of TT effects, and compare TT effects to placebo responses.


METHODS
A repeated measures, pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. TT and mimic TT were administered using standardized protocols to 11 adults in a controlled setting.


METHODS
Four physiological (total pulse amplitude, blood pressure, pulse, temperature) and three subjective (stress, self-assessment of health, time perception) variables were evaluated over 24 hours.


RESULTS
Total pulse amplitude and time perception decreased significantly immediately after TT intervention, indicating vasoconstriction and time passing "faster," with large and medium effect sizes significantly greater than were placebo responses. Vasodilation, a relaxation response, was expected instead of vasoconstriction.


CONCLUSIONS
TT may have adverse and positive outcomes.
Engle
V F
VF
University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Nursing, 877 Madison Avenue, Room 616, Memphis, TN 38103, USA. vengle@utmem.edu
Graney
M J
MJ
D000328:Adult; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019124:Therapeutic Touch / Q000379:methods*