Oxytocin administration alters HPA reactivity in the context of parent-infant interaction

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Oxytocin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) and the steroid cortisol (CT) have each been implicated in complex social behavior, including parenting, and one mechanism by which OT is thought to exert its pro-social effects is by attenuating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) response to stress.

In the current study, the researchers examined the effects of intranasal OT administered to the parent on parent's and infant's CT levels following parent-child interaction that included a social stressor.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are infants, young adults and adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Oxytocin group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Oxytocin, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Oxytocin, giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

In the current study, the researchers examined the effects of intranasal OT administered to the parent on parent's and infant's CT levels following parent-child interaction that included a social stressor.

Interactions were micro-coded for social synchrony, and salivary CT were repeatedly assessed from parent and child.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Analysis of Variance, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Hydrocortisone, Infant Behavior, Oxytocin, Parent-Child Relations and Parenting.

Author keywords: Cortisol, Gaze, Parent–infant synchrony, Still-face and Stress.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin.

The publication is from 2013 (European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology), a journal based in Netherlands.

More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.