In the study created by Harry Harlow, he looks into how rhesus monkeys develop attachments to the "terry cloth mother" simply on the basis of touch. Although this is something that conceptualized naturally, intuitively it makes perfect sense. After thinking about it and how it affects the development of mammals it got me to think about how it could be interpreted into everyday life. If you were raised by 2 parents it's most likely that there was one who was more affectionate towards you than the other. After several years of understanding their behavior most of us would have the tendency to go to the more affectionate parent in troubling situations. This to me proves the point that contact comfort not only helps us physically as babies and toddlers, but that it helps us to mentally cope with stressors in our everyday lives even as adults. Have you ever wondered why dogs (and I suppose cats too) like to be petted so much? It has to do with the same concept of contact comfort.
However, according to a CNN Health article, someone who was not afforded contact comfort when they were babies or toddlers are more likely to have negative emotions associated with touch. Oxytocin is a chemical that is present in our brain when we are touched by a loved one. So the lack of this chemical has been known to cause those negative effects such as not having trust in people.
You make a good point when you mention animals in this blog. Even my cat, who hates almost everyone, runs to my parents for her need of contact comfort. But instead of thinking of toddlers or pets when I see this, I think of adults or even teenagers. When we are upset normally one of the very first thing someone offers is a hug. It seems logical that, when the Harlow discovered that monkeys prefer the comforting mother rather than the one that provides food it chooses the mother that is comforting. It seems as if a majority of humans would do that also, as we seem to always be searching for comfort and love.