The very thought might send tremors of terror through your body, but studies show that the key to relieving stress is only a phone-call away -- to your mother. According to recent research, the sound of your mom's voice is just as good at helping ease a stressful situation as a hug, particularly for young girls.

To determine this, Dr. Seth D. Pollak, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his team exposed over 60 girls aged seven to 12 to a stressful situation -- giving a presentation or doing math problems in front of a class -- and then had them either visit with their mom, talk to their mom on the phone or watch a neutral movie.They then tested their levels of stress hormones and found that the girls who saw their moms or talked to them on the phone recovered from their stress much more quickly than the ones who didn't. What's more, the girls who had some sort of interaction with their mothers showed an increase in oxytocin levels, while those who didn't showed little or no increase.

The findings have surprised researchers around the world, as most previously believed that physical contact with a mother was the only kind of interaction that could make a major impact in oxytocin levels -- this is the first study that demonstrates the power of a mother's voice alone.

And while the study was conducted on young girls, many experts believe that the findings ring true for many different age groups, even adults. "From early infancy, this relationship may help to strengthen and promote the development of the oxytocin system, which may have effects into later childhood, adolescence, and even adulthood on how we respond to stress," Lane Strathearn of the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital told CNN.

Still, it probably depends on the mother -- some are more stressful than soothing, so keep that in mind before you pick up the phone.