Affective touch as a soothing factor for social exclusion in personality disorder patients

Abstract

Abstract thesis Introduction: The experience of social exclusion takes on a pathological form in PD patients. Earlier research shows that slow affective touch can decrease feelings of social exclusion in healthy individuals. We examined if this is also the case for PD patients, using a virtual ball tossing game called Cyberball to induce feelings of social exclusion. Methods: A total of 32 healthy females and 31 females diagnosed with a personality disorder played the Cyberball game after which they received either slow, affective touch (3 cm/s) or fast, neutral touch (30 cm/s) on their left hand. Participants were asked to rate their feelings of social connectedness on two different occasions. Results: In contradiction with earlier research, we did not find a significant increase in social connectedness after affective touch in the healthy controls as well as the PD patients. We did find a significant difference in ratings of feeling excluded and ignored after the touch manipulation between the PD patients and healthy individuals. Discussion: This supports the notion that PD patients are more sensitive to the negative effects of social exclusion than healthy individuals. It also supports earlier research stating that PD patients show larger negative reactions to the Cyberball Game compared to healthy controls. However, concerning affective touch, the current study is in contradiction with earlier research. Conclusion: In comparison to healthy individuals, PD patients feel more ignored and excluded after the touch manipulation. This indicates that touch is experienced differently for PD patients in comparison to healthy controls.