Journal
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
Volume 70, Issue -, Pages 63-69Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.05.001
Keywords
Intranasal oxytocin; Autobiographical memory; Tend-and-befriend; Social support; Distress
Categories
Funding
- Canada Institutes of Health Research [201403]
- Fonds de recherche du Quebec-Sante (FRQS) [26012]
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Background: Oxytocin is theorized to promote social support seeking under stress an alternate biobehavioural response to challenge known as the tend-and-befriend response. These effects may be context dependent, however, and no study has evaluated this effect in the presence and absence of social support. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of oxytocin on the experience of recalling emotional autobiographical memories in two contexts with and without social contact with an experimenter. Method: Sixty-three individuals (32 female) participated in this randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, and within-subject study. Results: During recall of negative memories in the absence of social contact, oxytocin decreased perceived emotional support relative to placebo F(1,62)= 10.75, p = 0.002. In this same context, women who were motivated to affiliate with the experimenter following oxytocin administration showed this effect in greater magnitude t(57) = p = 0.047, but showed the reverse effect (i.e. increased perceived support in response to oxytocin) when social contact with the experimenter was available t(57) = 2.78, p = 0.007. Male participants did not evidence this pattern. Conclusion: These findings support the role of oxytocin in social support seeking in distressed women, and highlight the negative consequences of increasing oxytocin bioavailability in the absence of social support. Supportive relationships may be necessary to elicit the prosocial effects oxytocin. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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