Oxytocin Administration and Emotion Recognition Abilities in Adults Reporting Adverse Childhood Experiences

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Healthy
• Interventions: Other: Placebo; Drug: Oxytocin

• Registration Number: NCT03335085
• Lead Sponsor: Ruhr University of Bochum

Brief Summary

This study evaluates whether intranasal administration of a single dose of oxytocin improves the ability to recognize emotional states. In a cross-over design, half of the participants first received oxytocin, the other half first received placebo.

Detailed Description

Adverse childhood experience such as neglect or abuse can lead to long-term deficits in emotion processing abilities, and these effects might be mediated via alterations in oxytocin production or sensitivity. The goal of this study was to test whether emotion recognition abilities and empathy might be improved by intranasal oxytocin administration in adults with a history of childhood maltreatment.

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment with a crossover design, we assessed the performance of 40 healthy participants with a history of childhood adversity on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and an emotion recognition task under 24 IU oxytocin vs. placebo and compared them to a control group of 40 matched individuals without traumatic childhood experiences.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2011-07-01
• Primary Completion: 2013-03-23
• Study Completion: 2013-11-05
• Status Verified: 2017-11
• Study First Submitted: 2017-11-03
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-11-06
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-11-06
• Study First Posted: 2017-11-07
• Last Update Posted: 2017-11-07

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 80

Inclusion Criteria

• presence of moderate to severe experiences of childhood adversity (early adversity group)

Exclusion Criteria

• Acute psychiatric disorders and personality disorders or psychiatric disorders within the last 12 months
• Pregnancy

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Placebo	Placebo	All ingredients except for oxytocin.
Oxytocin	Oxytocin	Single dose of intranasally administered 24 IU of Oxytocin (Syntocinon-Spray Novartis, Switzerland)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test	45 minutes post-dose	Requires participants to infer complex mental states fromthe eye region
Gradual Emotion Recognition Test	50 minutes post-dose	Requires participants to swiftly and accurately detect basic emotions form naturalistic, animated stimuli.