days of the study, the massage therapy participants, versus the SHAM TENS participants, had lower depression and anxiety scores and lower stress hormone (salivary cortisol) levels. Longer term effects (last day vs. first day) indicated that the massage therapy group was experiencing fewer symptoms of depression as well as fewer somatic symptoms, more hours of sleep, lower urinary cortisol levels, and elevated urinary dopamine levels. Depressed Elderly Volunteers Massaging Infants In this study a group of depressed, elderly people were recruited to massage infants and to receive massage. (Field, Hernandez-Reif, Quintino, et al., 1997). In a counterbalanced design, grandparent volunteers were giving a massage daily for one month, and then they were massaged themselves for one month (Field, Hernandez-Reif, Quintino, et al., 1997). Their depression scores decreased following a one-month period of massaging the infants, and they experienced increased self-esteem and decreased cortisol levels. The grandparent volunteers benefited more from giving than from receiving the massage, perhaps because, as they reported, they felt "awkward" receiving massages. Their affect and self-esteem improved more following the one-month period of giving massage versus receiving massage, as did their lifestyle habits (e.g., they reported drinking fewer cups of coffee per day, they made more social phone calls, and they made fewer trips to the doctor's office). Models Underlying Touch Alleviating Depression Depressed mood was decreased, and anxiety levels and stress hormones (norepinephrine, epinephrine, cortisol) were reduced in all of the above studies. One potential mechanism is suggested by a recent study measuring frontal EEG activation following massage in depressed adolescents (Jones & Field, in press). Shifts to a more positive mood were notably accompanied by shifts from right frontal EEG activation (normally associated with sad affect) to left frontal EEG activation (normally associated with happy affect) or at least to symmetry (midway between sad and happy affect) in both the mothers and their infants. Right frontal EEG activation (noted in chronically depressed adults and also observed in the depressed mothers and infants in our study) was shifted toward symmetry following a 20-minute massage (Jones & Field, in press). Chemical and electrophysiological changes from a negative to a positive balance may underlie the decrease in depression noted following massage therapy. A related potential mechanism may be the increase noted in vagal activity following massage therapy (Field, 1276 December 1998 • American Psychologist 1995). The nucleus-ambiguous branch of the vagus (the "smart" vagus) stimulates facial expressions and vocalizations, which contribute to less depressed affect, which in turn could feedback to effect less depressed feelings (Porges, 1997). Cardiovascular Symptoms of Stress Fifteen-minute massages significantly lowered blood pressure in 52 participants monitored before and after the massage sessions at work (Cady & Jones, 1997). Both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were decreased. In a group of chronically high blood pressure participants, massage therapy reduced only diastolic blood pressure (Hernandez-Reif et al., 1998). The mechanism for these decreases is not known and highlights the need for further study. Autoimmune Disorders Diabetic Children In a study on the vagal activity and insulin levels following massage therapy, I had reported (as described earlier) that both vagal activity and insulin levels increased (Field, 1995). This led to the investigation of massage therapy effects on diabetic children's clinical course. In this study we used parents as therapists because the cost of daily massages was prohibitively expensive and because we knew that massaging children had helped the therapists (the volunteer grandparents) as well (Field, Hernandez-Reif, Shaw, et al., 1997). Involvement in the treatment of their children can be a particularly negative experience for parents of diabetic children, for example, monitoring dietary compliance, taking blood samples, and giving insulin shots. In this study parents were given a more positive role in their children's treatment by massaging their children daily before bedtime. Immediately after the massage-therapy sessions, parents' anxiety and depressed mood levels were lower, and their children's anxiety levels and depressed mood levels were also lower. At the end of the one-month period, the parents' assessment of their children's insulin and food regulation improved, and the children's blood glucose levels decreased from very high to normal range values (from 158 to 118). Asthmatic Children Assuming that massage therapy might similarly benefit asthmatic children, we had parents give daily 20-minute bedtime massages to their asthmatic children (Field, Henteleff, et al., 1998). Immediately after the massage (a) the parents' anxiety decreased, (b) the children's selfreported anxiety levels decreased, (c) the children's mood improved, and (d) the children' s cortisol levels decreased. Most important, over the one-month period, the children had significantly fewer asthma attacks and significantly improved pulmonary functions, including peak air flow, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume, average flow