Reliability and Validity of the Mongolian version of affective touch questionnaire

Abstract

Communication via the sense of touch has long been perceived as an important aspect of human development, social comfort, and well-being. Human somatosensory system has in fact two tactile sub-modalities, one providing the well-recognized discriminative touch input to the brain, and the second–the affective or emotional input. C-tactile system is hypothesized to represent the neurobiological substrate for affective and rewarding properties of touch. Lower relationship quality is associated with lower resilience to stressors and can lead to increased vulnerability to mental health disorders. Based on the existing work, we know that social touch can increase well-being and lower state-anxiety. Our goal was to prove content validity for the Mongolian version with the factor structure of the original English version of the TEAQ. We translated, and adapted TEAQ for Mongolian language version. Original TEAQ-117 items were used in the pilot study. In the present study, enrolled 204 participants, age varied between 18 and 57 years (26.9±8.8), 57.8% were female. Validated TEAQ-57 items English version was used, and Exploratory factor analysis confirmed 55 items with 6 component structure. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated good consistency and homogeneity of the 6 factor structure of the TEAQ, and satisfactory model fit. Several subscales of the TEAQ revealed positive correlations on quality of life domains, in contrast negative correlations with anxiety and depression. In conclusion, analysed Mongolian version of the TEAQ-55 is a reliable and valid assessment tool of experiences and attitudes towards touch, and similar to component structure for different cultures (Validated British TEAQ-57, and TEAQ-37 RUS). We expected that Mongolian version of the TEAQ might be a helpful tool for screening mental health issues and researchers.