Biological Psychiatry
Volume 65, Issue 9 , Pages 728-731 , 1 May 2009

Intranasal Oxytocin Increases Positive Communication and Reduces Cortisol Levels During Couple Conflict

  • Beate Ditzen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress reprint requests to Beate Ditzen, Ph.D., University of Zurich, Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Binzmuhlestr. 14/Box 26, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland
    • ,
  • Marcel Schaer

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Institute for Family Research and Counseling, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
    • ,
  • Barbara Gabriel

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Institute for Family Research and Counseling, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
    • ,
  • Guy Bodenmann

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Institute for Family Research and Counseling, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
    • ,
  • Ulrike Ehlert

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
    • ,
  • Markus Heinrichs

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Received 13 June 2008 ,Revised 8 October 2008 ,Accepted 8 October 2008.

References 

  1. Berkman LF, Syme SL. Social networks, host resistance and mortality: A nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents. Am J Epidemiol. 1979;109:186–204
  2. House JS, Landis KR, Umberson D. Social relationships and health. Science. 1988;241:540–545
  3. Goodwin JS, Hunt WC, Key CR, Samet JR. The effect of marital status on the stage, treatment, and survival of cancer patients. J Am Med Ass. 1987;258:3125–3130
  4. Robles TF, Kiecolt-Glaser JK. The physiology of marriage: Pathways to health. Physiol Behav. 2003;79:409–416
  5. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Newton TL. Marriage and health: His and hers. Psychol Bull. 2001;127:472–503
  6. Ditzen B, Neumann ID, Bodenmann G, von Dawans B, Turner RA, Ehlert U, et al. Effects of different kinds of couple interaction on cortisol and heart rate responses to stress in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2007;32:565–574
  7. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Loving TJ, Stowell JR, Malarkey WB, Lemeshow S, Dickinson SL, et al. Hostile marital interactions, proinflammatory cytokine production, and wound healing. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62:1377–1384
  8. Kimmel PL, Peterson RA, Weihs KL, Shidler N, Simmens SJ, Alleyne S, et al. Dyadic relationship conflict, gender, and mortality in urban hemodialysis patients. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2000;11:1518–1525
  9. Coyne JC, Rohrbaugh MJ, Shoham V, Sonnega JS, Nicklas JM, Cranford JA. Prognostic importance of marital quality for survival of congestive heart failure. Am J Cardiol. 2001;88:526–529
  10. Young LJ, Wang Z. The neurobiology of pair bonding. Nat Neurosci. 2004;7:1048–1054
  11. Carter CS, DeVries AC, Getz LL. Physiological substrates of mammalian monogamy: The prairie vole model. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1995;19:303–314
  12. Born J, Lange T, Kern W, McGregor GP, Bickel U, Fehm HL. Sniffing neuropeptides: A transnasal approach to the human brain. Nat Neurosci. 2002;5:514–516
  13. Heinrichs M, Domes G. Neuropeptides and social behaviour: Effects of oxytocin and vasopressin in humans. Prog Brain Res. 2008;170:337–350
  14. Heinrichs M, Baumgartner T, Kirschbaum C, Ehlert U. Social support and oxytocin interact to suppress cortisol and subjective responses to psychosocial stress. Biol Psychiatry. 2003;54:1389–1398
  15. Heinrichs M, Meinlschmidt G, Wippich W, Ehlert U, Hellhammer DH. Selective amnesic effects of oxytocin on human memory. Physiol Behav. 2004;83:31–38
  16. Guastella AJ, Mitchell PB, Mathews F. Oxytocin enhances the encoding of positive social memories in humans. Biol Psychiatry. 2008;64:256–258
  17. Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E. Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature. 2005;435:673–676
  18. Guastella AJ, Mitchell PB, Dadds MR. Oxytocin increases gaze to the eye region of human faces. Biol Psychiatry. 2008;63:3–5
  19. Domes G, Heinrichs M, Michel A, Berger C, Herpertz SC. Oxytocin improves “mind-reading” in humans. Biol Psychiatry. 2007;61:731–733
  20. Kirsch P, Esslinger C, Chen Q, Mier D, Lis S, Siddhanti S, et al. Oxytocin modulates neural circuitry for social cognition and fear in humans. J Neurosci. 2005;25:11489–11493
  21. Domes G, Heinrichs M, Glascher J, Buchel C, Braus DF, Herpertz SC. Oxytocin attenuates amygdala responses to emotional faces regardless of valence. Biol Psychiatry. 2007;62:1187–1190
  22. Baumgartner T, Heinrichs M, Vonlanthen A, Fischbacher U, Fehr E. Oxytocin shapes the neural circuitry of trust and trust adaptation in humans. Neuron. 2008;58:639–650
  23. Goldberg D, Williams P. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Windsor, United Kingdom: NFER-Nelson; 1969;
  24. Hahlweg K. Fragebogen zur Partnerschaftsdiagnostik (FPD) ([Marriage diagnostic questionnaire]). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe; 1996;
  25. Schulz P, Schlotz W, Becker P. Das Trierer Inventar zur Erfassung von chronischem Stress - Version 2 (TICS 2) ([Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress]). Gottingen, Germany: Hogrefe; 2004;
  26. Gottman JM. What Predicts Divorce? (The Relationship Between Marital Processes and Marital Outcomes). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1994;
  27. Weiss RL, Heyman RE. Couple interaction. In:  Halford WK,  Markman HJ editor. Clinical Handbook of Marriage and Couples Intervention. New York: Wiley; 1997;p. 13–41
  28. Kaiser A, Hahlweg K, Fehm-Wolfsdorf G, Groth T. The efficacy of a compact psychoeducational group training program for married couples. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1998;66:753–760
  29. Fehm Wolfsdorf G, Groth T, Kaiser A, Hahlweg K. Cortisol responses to marital conflict depend on marital interaction quality. Int J Behav Med. 1999;6:207–227
  30. Hahlweg K, Jacobson NS. Marital Interaction: Analysis and Modification. New York: Guilford; 1984;
  31. Wissen auf Video, Teil 3: Der Gesang der Wale [Knowledge on Video, Sound of the Whales] (Planet Ozean [Planet Ocean]). Komplett-Video 2006;
  32. Gottman JM, Krokoff LJ. Marital interaction and satisfaction: A longitudinal view. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1989;57:47–52
  33. Hahlweg K, Reisner L, Kohli G, Vollmer C, Schindler L, Revenstorf D. Development and validity of a new system to analyze interpersonal communication: Kategoriensystem für partnerschaftliche Interaktion [KPI]. In:  Hahlweg K,  Jacobson NS editor. Marital Interaction: Analysis and Modification. New York: Guilford Press; 1984;p. 182–198
  34. Bourquard E, Bodenmann G, Perrez M (1992–2005): CAOS. Computer Aided Observation System. Fribourg, Switzerland: University of Fribourg.
  35. Pruessner JC, Kirschbaum C, Meinlschmidt G, Hellhammer DH. Two formulas for computation of the area under the curve represent measures of total hormone concentration versus time-dependent change. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2003;28:916–931
  36. Carter CS. Neuroendocrine perspectives on social attachment and love. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1998;23:779–818
  37. Amico JA, Mantella RC, Vollmer RR, Li X. Anxiety and stress responses in female oxytocin deficient mice. J Neuroendocrinol. 2004;16:319–324
  38. Neumann I. Involvement of the brain oxytocin system in stress coping: Interactions with the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Prog Brain Res. 2002;139:147–162
  39. Parker KJ, Buckmaster CL, Schatzberg AF, Lyons DM. Intranasal oxytocin administration attenuates the ACTH stress response in monkeys. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2005;30:924–929
  40. Windle RJ, Kershaw YM, Shanks N, Wood SA, Lightman SL, Ingram CD. Oxytocin attenuates stress-induced c-fos mRNA expression in specific forebrain regions associated with modulation of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal activity. J Neurosci. 2004;24:2974–2982
  41. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Glaser R, Cacioppo JT, MacCallum RC, Snydersmith M, Kim C, et al. Marital conflict in older adults: Endocrinological and immunological correlates. Psychosom Med. 1997;59:339–349
  42. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Bane C, Glaser R, Malarkey WB. Love, marriage, and divorce: Newlyweds‘ stress hormones foreshadow relationship changes. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2003;71:176–188
  43. Dickerson SS, Kemeny ME. Acute stressors and cortisol responses: A theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychol Bull. 2004;130:355–391
  44. Lerner JS, Gonzalez RM, Dahl RE, Hariri AR, Taylor SE. Facial expressions of emotion reveal neuroendocrine and cardiovascular stress responses. Biol Psychiatry. 2005;58:743–750
  45. Yamamoto Y, Cushing BS, Kramer KM, Epperson PD, Hoffman GE, Carter CS. Neonatal manipulations of oxytocin alter expression of oxytocin and vasopressin immunoreactive cells in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in a gender-specific manner. Neuroscience. 2004;125:947–955
  46. Insel TR, Hulihan TJ. A gender-specific mechanism for pair bonding: Oxytocin and partner preference formation in monogamous voles. Behav Neurosci. 1995;109:782–789
  47. Donaldson ZR, Young LJ. Oxytocin, vasopressin, and the neurogenetics of sociality. Science. 2008;322:900–904
  48. De Vries GJ, Panzica GC. Sexual differentiation of central vasopressin and vasotocin systems in vertebrates: Different mechanisms, similar endpoints. Neuroscience. 2006;138:947–955
  49. Ditzen B, Schmidt S, Strauss B, Nater UM, Ehlert U, Heinrichs M. Adult attachment and social support interact to reduce psychological but not cortisol responses to stress. J Psychosom Res. 2008;64:479–486
  50. Ditzen B, Hoppmann C, Klumb P. Positive couple interactions and daily cortisol: On the stress-protecting role of intimacy. Psychosom Med. 2008;70:883–889

PII: S0006-3223(08)01240-7

doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.10.011

Biological Psychiatry
Volume 65, Issue 9 , Pages 728-731 , 1 May 2009

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution