Differential response of the need to be held

Although the need to be held has been related to depression, anxiety, and sexual behaviour, it remains unclear how the factors of race and marital status relate to the wish for body contact. This study determined whether there were discrete dimensions of the Body Contact Scale and whether black/white and married/unmarried women differed on these factors during their first trimester of pregnancy. Eighty-five pregnant women completed the Body Contact Scale and answered an attitude and symptom complaint questionnaire. Data analysis consisted of factor analysis and multivariate analysis of the factor scores as well as attitude and symptom variables to determine any differences between the four groups. Three factors resulted and were named, satisfaction, deprivation, and strategy factors. White women were far more likely to score high on the satisfaction factor than black women. A number of interactions were found for the need to be held total score with race and marital status on perinatal attitudes and symptoms, showing that the body contact variable may be an important aspect of psychosomatic functioning.