Almost every
day after work, I enter my house and I am greeted by my 15 year old daughter. She is seated in her favorite spot at our
kitchen table with her books spread out in front of her and her planner
dutifully indicating what needs to get done. Within minutes of entering the kitchen or
family room, she asks me, “Can I get a hug?” or “Would you like a hug?” At first, I worried, is she getting enough affection
from her dad and me? My other two older
children rarely requested hugs; they seemed content with the occasional snuggle
and squeeze they randomly received over the course of the day. So what was prompting my daughter’s desire for
this kind of affectionate contact? Turns
out it has to do with science and the brain!!
New research suggests that cuddling and hugging causes the hippocampus
to grow. Cantiague’s Kindergartners,
first and second graders know that the hippocampus is an area of the brain
dedicated to memory and learning. A
larger hippocampus means more neural connections, so kids pick up, retain, and
recall new information better. Maybe
that is why my daughter looks for the hugs just before starting her homework!
I also found
out that snuggling and close affectionate contact releases oxytocin, the love
hormone. This hormone increases children’s
feelings of happiness, improves their sociability and makes them more
cooperative. So hugging around homework and
bedtime might be a more effective parenting tool than shouting and threatening!
Finally, it
appears that my anxious child intuitively knew that hugs and snuggles help to
reduce her stress levels. Research
revealed that cortisol levels (our stress hormone) and blood pressure decrease
when we have close physical contact with our loved ones. These effects are long lasting, too. With a good dose of TLC, our children are
better able to deal with the challenges that face them academically and/or
socially throughout the day. So whether
you have a child who asks for the hug or one that doesn’t seem to need it as
much – go ahead and grab ‘em and squeeze ‘em because the benefits of that
contact go far beyond the moment!
Sources:
Tamekia
Reece, Parent and Child, Scholastic.com, May 2014
Tiffany
Field, Ph.D., Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami
Joseph
Pinzone, M.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Kathy
Gruver, Ph.D., Conquer Your Stress with
Mind/Body Techniques
