Massage Therapy for Infants and Children
Presented by Tiffany M. Field, Ph.D.
This webinar was presented live on May 6th, 2022. If you missed the webinar, you can view it here.
Webinar Presented by Tiffany M. Field, Ph.D.
Tiffany M. Field, Ph.D.
Massage therapy has been effective for several aspects of development and for clinical conditions during infancy and childhood. Most of the studies around the world (205 replications to date) have assessed massage therapy effects on weight gain in preterm infants. Other important effects for those infants include performance on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale and increased bone density. Positive effects of massage therapy have also been noted for full-term infants including decreased irritability and better sleep quality. Most of the massage therapy studies with children have focused on clinical conditions including attention disorders (ASD and ADHD), psychiatric problems (depression, conduct disorder, aggression), pain syndromes (JRA, fibromyalgia), chronic illnesses (diabetes, asthma) and immune dysfunction (HIV and cancer). Massages have been effectively provided for these children by their parents as part of the bedtime ritual. In turn, the parents have benefited from giving the massages. Potential underlying mechanisms have included the stimulation of pressure receptors leading to increased vagal activity, decreased cortisol and increased growth hormone and natural killer cells.
Tiffany Field, PhD, is a research professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Founder of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami/Miller School of Medicine. She had an NIH Research Scientist Award for her research career. She is the author of more than 400 journal papers and 38 books including The Amazing Infant, several volumes on Stress and Coping, Complementary and Alternative Therapies, Yoga Research and Touch. She was the first psychologist to receive the Golden Goose award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her research on helping preterm infants grow by massaging them.
Missed a previous webinar? Check out previous recordings here.