Oxytocin selectively moderates negative cognitive appraisals in high trait anxious males

Summary The mammalian neuropeptide oxytocin has well-characterized effects in facilitating prosocial and affiliative behavior. Additionally, oxytocin decreases physiological and behavioral responses to social stress. In the present study we investigated the effects of oxytocin on cognitive appraisal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychoneuroendocrinology 2012-12, Vol.37 (12), p.2022-2031
Main Authors: Alvares, Gail A, Chen, Nigel T.M, Balleine, Bernard W, Hickie, Ian B, Guastella, Adam J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administration, Intranasal
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Affect
Anxiety
Anxiety - psychology
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Attention
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Cognition - drug effects
Cognitive ability
Diagnostic Self Evaluation
Double-Blind Method
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Eye
Eye gaze
Eye Movements - drug effects
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hormones and behavior
Humans
Individual differences
Inventories
Male
Medical sciences
Neuropeptides
Oxytocin
Oxytocin - administration & dosage
Oxytocin - pharmacology
Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data
Phobia
Photic Stimulation - methods
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance - drug effects
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social anxiety
Social interactions
speech
Stress
Visual Perception - drug effects
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Summary:Summary The mammalian neuropeptide oxytocin has well-characterized effects in facilitating prosocial and affiliative behavior. Additionally, oxytocin decreases physiological and behavioral responses to social stress. In the present study we investigated the effects of oxytocin on cognitive appraisals after a naturalistic social stress task in healthy male students. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 48 participants self-administered either an oxytocin or placebo nasal spray and, following a wait period, completed an impromptu speech task. Eye gaze to a pre-recorded video of an audience displayed during the task was simultaneously collected. After the speech, participants completed questionnaires assessing negative cognitive beliefs about speech performance. Whilst there was no overall effect of oxytocin compared to placebo on either eye gaze or questionnaire measures, there were significant positive correlations between trait levels of anxiety and negative self-appraisals following the speech. Exploratory analyses revealed that whilst higher trait anxiety was associated with increasingly poorer perceptions of speech performance in the placebo group, this relationship was not found in participants administered oxytocin. These results provide preliminary evidence to suggest that oxytocin may reduce negative cognitive self-appraisals in high trait anxious males. It adds to a growing body of evidence that oxytocin seems to attenuate negative cognitive responses to stress in anxious individuals.
ISSN:0306-4530
1873-3360
DOI:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.04.018