Data from: Does hugging provide stress-buffering social support? A study of susceptibility to upper respiratory infection and illness

Perceived social support has been hypothesized to protect against the pathogenic effects of stress. How such protection might be conferred, however, is not well understood. In 406 healthy adults, we examined the roles of perceived social support and received hugs in buffering against interpersonal stress-induced susceptibility to infectious disease. Perceived support was assessed by questionnaire, and daily interpersonal conflict and receipt of hugs by telephone interviews on 14 consecutive evenings. Subsequently, participants were exposed to a virus that causes a common cold, and monitored in quarantine to assess infection and illness signs. Perceived support protected against the rise in infection risk associated with increasing frequency of conflict. A similar stress-buffering effect emerged for hugging, which explained 32% of the attenuating effect of support. Among infected participants, greater perceived support and more frequent hugs each predicted less severe illness signs. These data suggest that hugging may act as an effective means of conveying support.