Research progress of affective touch intervention on early life stress-related anxiety disorders

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are characterized by persistent and excessive fear, anxiety and concern, accompanied by avoidance behaviors and physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, shortness of breath and muscle tension, which is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders. Research has shown that early life stress (ELS) can increase individual susceptibility to developing anxiety disorders during childhood and adulthood by modifying brain structure and functions. A large number of papers have reviewed the pathophysiological mechanisms of ELS-related anxiety disorders, while only a few have reviewed interventional techniques for ELS-related anxiety disorders. The phenomenon of tactile deprivation is prevalent in individuals experiencing ELS. Most current researches on affective touch and anxiety disorders suggest that affective touch is an intervention for ELS-related anxiety disorders. The review firstly introduces the phenomenon of touch deprivation in individuals experiencing ELS, discusses the effect of affective touch intervention on ELS-related anxiety disorders, and then summarizes the mechanism of affective touch in terms of neural circuits and neuroendocrinology, in order to provide reference for complementary intervention treatment of ELS-related anxiety disorders.

Keywords

• touch
• early life stress (els)
• anxiety