Abstract
This study examined gender, age, and task differences in positive touch and physical proximity during mother–child and father–child conversations. Sixty-five Spanish mothers and fathers and their 4- (M = 53.50 months, SD = 3.54) and 6-year-old (M = 77.07 months, SD = 3.94) children participated in this study. Positive touch was examined during a play-related storytelling task and a reminiscence task (conversation about past emotions). Fathers touched their children positively more frequently during the play-related storytelling task than did mothers. Both mothers and fathers were in closer proximity to their 6-year-olds than their 4-year-olds. Mothers and fathers touched their children positively more frequently when reminiscing than when playing. Finally, 6-year-olds remained closer to their parents than did 4-year-olds. Implications of these findings for future research on children’s socioemotional development are discussed.
Highlights
Beginning at birth, children are touched by their parents in the majority of their everyday joint interactions (Field 1984; Symons and Moran 1987)
This study examined gender, age, and task differences in positive touch and physical proximity during mother–child and father–child conversations
To push or jab at, as with a finger or an arm To squeeze between the thumb and a finger in a way that causes discomfort or pain. Across both tasks we examined the degree of proximity between parent and child, and frequency of positive touch
Summary
Children are touched by their parents in the majority of their everyday joint interactions (Field 1984; Symons and Moran 1987). Research in the US indicates that mothers touch their infants between 33 and 61 % of the total time that they interact with them (Stack and Muir 1990). Touch is one of the main means of communication between parents and children. Touch regulates children’s perceptions and emotions (Kisilevsky et al 1991), and changes children’s behavior (Pelaez-Nogueras et al 1996). The experience of early interpersonal touch is associated with later self-esteem, life. Parent–child interpersonal touch has long-lasting implications for children’s physical and psychological development
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