NCT05768685

The Experience of Affective Touch in Obesity

The Experience of Affective Touch in Obesity: the Role of Social Anhedonia and Lifespan Experiences

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 60 (actual)
• Sponsor: Istituto Auxologico Italiano · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years – 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The aim of the present research is to verify if the pleasantness of affective touch is comparable between women with obesity and healthy women, while measuring the level of social anhedonia and the lifespan experience of affective touch.

Conditions

• Obesity

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Affective touch paradigm	Affective touch paradigm: experimental stimuli will include the touch of a soft cosmetic, a hand, which will be both expected to resemble affective pleasant stimulations, and a plastic stick with a rounded tip, as a control (non-affective) condition. Two speeds of stimulation will be adopted i) slow affective stimuli delivered at 3 cm/s and fast non-affective stimuli, delivered at non-optimal speed (18 cm/s). An imagery version of the task will be also administered: blindfolded participants will be asked to image the touches on their left forearm. After each (actual or imagined) tactile stimulus, individuals will rate the experience level of pleasantness. As part of the protocol, they will fill out two psychological questionnaires, assessing the level of social anhedonia and the amount and characteristics of the lifespan experiences of affective touch inclose relationships.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-10-13
• Primary completion: 2024-10-01
• Completion: 2024-10-01
• First posted: 2023-03-14
• Last updated: 2025-08-26

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Italy