Sebastian Ocklenburg
Professor of research methods in Psychology at the medical faculty of the MSH Medical School in Hamburg (Germany)
The study is of great quality. The hypotheses and study protocol have been preregistered and the results of more than 200 studies have been integrated. This ensures high statistical power and robustness of results compared to smaller empirical studies in a single lab.
The study confirms previous findings from smaller empirical studies on a meta-analytic level. Overall, it shows strong evidence that touch interventions can be beneficial for both physical and mental health
The results of the study do not imply anything regarding the proposed mechanisms underlying alternative therapies. As a meta-analysis, this is simply a statistical integration of existing studies on many different forms of touch interventions.
[Regarding limitations] As mentioned above, as a meta-analysis the study does not allow any conclusions on why touch interventions have so many benefits for physical and mental health.