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Affective touch has been reported for its calming effects; however, it is less clear whether touch is associated with sleep. Here, the relationship between different touch variables and self-reported sleep indicators was investigated. Data were extracted from the Touch Test, a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2020. Data from a sample of 15,049 healthy adults from the UK (mean age = 56.13, SD = 13.8; 75.4% female) were analysed. Participants were asked to attribute positive, negative, or no effects on sleep to hugs, strokes, massages, intimate touch, and sleep onset with and without touch. The time since last intentional touch, touch amount satisfaction, and childhood bed routine with hugs and kisses were assessed. Sleep quality, duration, latency, wake after sleep onset and diurnal preference were measured. Data were analysed using chi-square tests and logistic regressions. Affective touch before sleep was perceived to have positive effects on sleep. Touch recency emerged as a significant predictor for some sleep variables, with a longer timespan since the last intentional touch relating to improved sleep quality, longer sleep duration, and shorter and fewer instances of waking up after sleep onset in some participants. Experiencing too much touch was related to lower sleep quality and higher instances of waking up after sleep onset. These findings highlight the importance of interpersonal touch for subjective sleep quality. This project was supported by and run in collaboration with the Wellcome Collection. Michael J. Banissy is supported by the ESRC (grant no. ES/R007527/1).

Unemployment and underemployment have consistently been shown to be higher in autistic adults relative to non-autistic adults. This may be due, in part, to a lack of workplace accommodations being made for autistic people. One factor that may contribute to employment inequalities in autistic people is differences in attitudes towards interpersonal touch. This study acts as a preliminary investigation into whether employed autistic and non-autistic participants differ in their attitudes towards touch in the workplace, and in their loneliness and wellbeing. The current dataset was drawn from a larger online survey (the Touch Test) designed to explore attitudes and experiences towards touch. We found that employed autistic participants had more negative attitudes to general, social and workplace touch relative to non-autistic participants. Autistic participants also experienced greater loneliness and reduced wellbeing. Attachment-related anxiety was the only significant predictor of wellbeing in employed autistic adults. However, attachment-related anxiety, general attitudes to touch and the role of touch in the workplace predicted wellbeing in employed non-autistic adults. With regards to loneliness, general attitudes to touch and the role of touch in the workplace predicted loneliness in autistic participants. We also replicated the finding that a greater proportion of autistic participants were unemployed relative to non-autistic participants. Collectively, this research highlights the importance of considering touch in research investigating employment, and its impact on loneliness and wellbeing, in autistic participants.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak emerged at the end of 2019 and quickly spread around the world. Measures to counter COVID-19, including social distancing and lockdowns, created an unusual situation that had the potential to impact a variety of behaviours, including sleep, which is crucial for health and well-being. Data were obtained through an online survey. The total sample comprised 19,482 participants from the UK. Participants were asked several questions regarding sleep quality and quantity. Each participant completed the questionnaires once during a data collection period spanning January 20 to March 31, 2020. Data provided by different participants during different weeks (spanning time-periods just before COVID-19 was identified in the UK and during the early weeks following its arrival) were compared using analysis of variance tests and regressions. Regression analyses controlling for age, sex and ethnicity revealed significant associations of small magnitude between date of survey completion and sleep quality, sleep latency, number of awakenings and composite score of poor sleep quality. These analyses also indicated small increases in eveningness tendency as the study progressed. There was no change in sleep duration or time spent awake at night. The COVID-19 outbreak did not appear to impact negatively sleep in a substantial manner during the early stages in the UK. The small increases in sleep quality variables (except for time spent awake at night and sleep duration) and eveningness are nonetheless of interest. Further research is needed to understand how best to provide support to those most in need of a good night’s sleep during this unprecedented time. Wellcome Collection (The Touch Test) to MJB (Principal Investigator) and AMG (Co-Investigator).