The Secret Health Benefits of Partner Touch in Older Couples

For many people, life these days is increasingly stressful. One thing that can help deal with stress is feeling loved and cared for by partners, family members, and friends.

Indeed, it has been shown again and again in psychological research that social support can help in reducing stress and increasing psychological well-being. One of the most important forms of social support is social touch, such as hugging or hand holding (Ocklenburg, 2024).

Unfortunately, most of the psychological studies on the benefits of social touch have been conducted in younger volunteers. Understanding the benefits of social touch in older adults is thus an important gap in the psychological research literature.

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Partner Touch in Older Adults?

A new study, just published in the scientific journal Brain, Behavior, & Immunity–Health, turns the focus toward the long-term health effects of partner touch in older adults (Navyte et al., 2026). In the study, entitled “Long-term metabolic and cardiovascular health benefits from romantic partner touch in older adults,” the research team—led by scientist Gabriele Navyte from the University of Essex in the UK,—analyzed data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project.

Overall, 787 volunteers participated in the study. Their mean age was about 73 years, making this study cohort much older than the volunteers in most previous studies on partner touch and health.

All volunteers were tested two times, about five years apart, making it possible to investigate long-term health effects. About 70 percent of volunteers were in a relationship at the time point of the first data collection; the remaining 30 percent were single. At each time point, volunteers were asked how many times they had close physical contact with their partner in the preceding 12 months, and how many times they had close physical contact with other people who were not their partner in the preceding 12 months. The volunteers could answer on a scale between “never” to “once a month”, “once a week”, and ”several times a week or more.”

The physical health of the older volunteers was assessed across three categories:

1. Metabolic health: Biomarkers related to important chemical reactions in cells
2. Cardiovascular health: Heart health biomarkers like blood pressure or pulse
3. Neuroendocrine health: Hormonal biomarkers

Partner Touch Had Unique Positive Effects on Older Adults

The scientists used sophisticated statistical models to investigate the effects of partner touch and touch by other people on health. Older adults who experienced more partner touch at the first time point had better metabolic and cardiovascular health at the second time point, five years later.

In contrast, touch by other people who were not the partner had no such positive effects on health. Moreover, no effects were found for neuroendocrine health.

Taken together, the results of the study suggest that in older adults, partner touch has a substantial positive association with various aspects of health, especially heart health, years later. These associations were not found for being touched by anybody else but the romantic partner. The scientists suggested that regular partner touch may be linked to lower chronic stress. The lower stress level may subsequently be linked to better cardiovascular and general health.