Effects of Intranasal Oxytocin on Trust Towards Therapists and Dogs: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Adults
试验速览
- 阶段
- 2 期
- 状态
- 招募中
- 发起方
- 入组人数
- 176
- 试验地点
- 1
- 主要终点
- Trust in the therapist
研究概览
简要总结
Oxytocin has been proposed as a neuroendocrine mechanism that may mediate the relationship between dog ownership and positive health outcomes and be linked to human-dog interactions and is thought to be a mechanism of interspecies bonding. While the role of oxytocin in human bonding behaviours and social behaviour, in general, is becoming well-established the role of oxytocin in human-animal interaction and Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) remains unclear. This research gap calls for more high-quality research investigating this possible neuroendocrine underlying mechanism to advance knowledge about AAI. If oxytocin indeed might be involved in interspecies bonding, intranasally administered oxytocin should not only enhance trust toward a human but also towards a dog.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Basic Science
- 盲法
- Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 18 Years 至 —（Adult, Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Age ≥ 18 years
- •Signed informed consent
排除标准
- •Pregnancy
- •Being scared of dogs or dog hair allergy by self-report
- •Any acute or chronic disease (e.g., chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, renal disease, liver disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, skin pathologies etc.)
- •Current medications (psychoactive medication, narcotics, intake of analgesics) or being currently in psychological or psychiatric treatment
- •Drug consumption (THC, cocaine, heroin, etc.) within the past 24h before study appointment
- •Ongoing psychotherapy treatment
- •Sexual Intercourse within the past 24h before study appointment
- •Current disease involving respiratory system (e.g., influence, asthma etc.)
- •Insufficient German language skills to understand the instructions
研究组 & 干预措施
Condition 1: Oxytocin + dog present
干预措施: Animal-Assisted Intervention (Other)
Condition 1: Oxytocin + dog present
干预措施: Oxytocin nasal spray (Drug)
Condition 2: Oxytocin + no dog present
干预措施: Oxytocin nasal spray (Drug)
Condition 3: Placebo + dog present
干预措施: Animal-Assisted Intervention (Other)
Condition 3: Placebo + dog present
干预措施: Placebo (Drug)
Condition 4: Placebo + no dog present
干预措施: Placebo (Drug)
结局指标
主要结局
Trust in the therapist
时间窗: immediately after the intervention
The main outcome is trust in the therapist, measured by the Trust and Respect Scale. The current questionnaire contains 8 items, four for trust and four for respect. Each item is measured on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = "strongly disagree" to 7 = "strongly agree"), of which 4 are formulated negatively. High values indicate high trust toward the therapist for the positively framed items, and for the negatively framed items low values mean high trust toward the therapist.
次要结局
- therapeutic climate(immediately after the intervention)
- Trust in the dog(immediately after the intervention)
- therapeutic alliance(immediately after the intervention)
- psychological flexibility(immediately after the intervention)
- perceived emotional closeness to the dog(immediately after the intervention)
- perceived stress(immediately after the intervention)
- level of difficulty(immediately after the intervention)
研究者
Dr. Karin Hediger
Prof. Dr. Karin Hediger
University of Basel