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R
E S E A R C H
Massage
Improves Preschoolers' Cognitive Performance
Preschoolers
showed enhanced cognitive performance after receiving massage therapy,
as evidenced by greater accuracy on skills tests than those in a
control group.
The research study "Preschooler's
Cognitive Performance Improves Following Massage," was conducted
by researchers at the Touch Research Institute in conjunction with
Texas Tech University, Nova Southeastern University and the University
of Miami School of Medicine. It was originally published in the
journal Early Child Development and Care.
Twenty preschoolers ages 3 to 5 were
randomly assigned to either a massage therapy group or a story-reading
group. The children were given a temperament rating based on how
their behavior was seen by their teachers, along a scale that ranged
from calm and easygoing to anxious and high-strung.
Those in the massage group were given
one 15-minute massage. Beginning in the supine position, the children
were massaged along their faces, including circular strokes on the
nose, cheeks, jaw and chin; their stomachs, including paddlewheel-fashion
hand strokes; their legs, including massage of the feet and toes and
stroking the legs up toward the heart; and their arms, including strokes
from shoulders to hands. Finishing in the prone position, each child
was massaged along the back, hands, sides, shoulders and neck, ending
with strokes from the head to the feet.
Children in the control group were
read a Dr. Seuss story for 15 minutes, while sitting close together
in a carpeted area.
The skills pre-test was given to both
groups prior to the reading or massage. Following the reading or
massage, a skills post-test was given. Assessment included the Wechsler
Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised, which measured
the children's performance on three timed skill and abstract reasoning
tests: block design, animal pegs and mazes.
Results showed that children who received
massage were more accurate on the tests, in contrast to those in
the control group, whose scores either stayed the same or decreased
in each post-test. Researchers reasoned that the children were more
alert following massage, and thus showed improved performance on
the tests. The children who had been rated by teachers as anxious
and high-strung showed the greatest improvement in scores following
the massage. Massage possibly alleviated stress among these children,
the study authors concluded.
Researchers noted that little touch
takes place in preschools. "Whether touch deprivation is a
source of stress among preschoolers is an important question for
future research," the study authors wrote. "Since the
long-term effects of massage therapy have not yet been established,
further studies are needed to determine the extent to which touch
therapy needs to be incorporated in the preschool curriculum."
- Source: The Touch Research
Institute. Originally published in Early Child Development,
1998, Vol. 143, pp. 59-64.
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