Naturally occurring high levels of caregiver touch promote offspring development in many animal species. Yet, caregiver touch remains a relatively understudied topic in human development, possibly due to challenges of measuring this means of interaction. While parental reports (e.g., questionnaires, diaries) are easy to collect, they may be subject to biases and memory limitations. In contrast, observing touch in a short session of parent–child interaction in the lab may not be representative of touch interaction in daily life. In the present study, we compared parent reports (one‐off questionnaires and diary) and observation‐based methods in a sample of German 6‐ to 13‐month‐olds and their primary caregivers (n = 71). In an attempt to characterize touching behaviors across a broad range of contexts, we measured touch both during play and while the parent was engaged in another activity. We found that context affected both the quantity and types of touch used in interaction. Parent‐reported touch was moderately associated with touch observed in parent–child interactions and more strongly with touch used during play. We conclude that brief one‐off questionnaires are a good indicator of touch in parent–child interaction, yet they may be biased toward representing particular daily activities and particular types of touch.

中文翻译：

---

在亲子互动中捕捉触摸：方法比较

自然发生的高水平照顾者接触促进了许多动物物种的后代发育。然而，在人类发展中，看护者的接触仍然是一个研究相对不足的话题，这可能是由于衡量这种互动方式的挑战。虽然父母的报告（例如，问卷、日记）很容易收集，但它们可能会受到偏见和记忆力的限制。相比之下，在实验室中进行短暂的亲子互动中观察触摸可能并不代表日常生活中的触摸互动。在本研究中，我们在德国 6 至 13 个月大的婴儿及其主要照顾者的样本中比较了父母报告（一次性问卷和日记）和基于观察的方法（n = 71）。为了在广泛的背景下表征触摸行为，我们测量了玩耍期间和父母从事另一项活动时的触摸。我们发现上下文会影响交互中使用的触摸的数量和类型。家长报告的触摸与亲子互动中观察到的触摸有中等程度的相关性，而与玩耍时使用的触摸的相关性更强。我们得出结论，简短的一次性问卷是亲子互动中触觉的一个很好的指标，但它们可能偏向于代表特定的日常活动和特定类型的触摸。