Connecting through touch: Attitudes toward touch in pregnancy are associated with couples' sexual and affectionate behaviors across the transition to parenthood.

ABSTRACT: Touch is a universal nonverbal action often used by romantic partners to demonstrate affection and care for each other. Attitudes toward touch might be particularly relevant across periods of relational strain-such as the transition to parenthood-when couples face many novel stressors and shifting priorities which can interfere with their sexual and affectionate experiences. New parent couples (N = 203) completed self-report measures online across six time-points (two prenatal). We tested whether couples' attitudes toward touch (touch aversion, touch for affection, touch for emotion regulation) at baseline (20 weeks mid-pregnancy) predicted their frequency of sexual and affectionate behaviors from mid-pregnancy through 12-month postpartum. Both partners' more positive attitudes towa

SUBMITTER: Tavares IM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11316666 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature