Abstract
Background
The presence of social support has been associated with decreased stress responsiveness.
Recent animal studies suggest that the neuropeptide oxytocin is implicated both in
prosocial behavior and in the central nervous control of neuroendocrine responses
to stress. This study was designed to determine the effects of social support and
oxytocin on cortisol, mood, and anxiety responses to psychosocial stress in humans.
Methods
In a placebo-controlled, double-blind study, 37 healthy men were exposed to the Trier
Social Stress Test. All participants were randomly assigned to receive intranasal
oxytocin (24 IU) or placebo 50 min before stress, and either social support from their
best friend during the preparation period or no social support.
Results
Salivary free cortisol levels were suppressed by social support in response to stress.
Comparisons of pre- and poststress anxiety levels revealed an anxiolytic effect of
oxytocin. More importantly, the combination of oxytocin and social support exhibited
the lowest cortisol concentrations as well as increased calmness and decreased anxiety
during stress.
Conclusions
Oxytocin seems to enhance the buffering effect of social support on stress responsiveness.
These results concur with data from animal research suggesting an important role of
oxytocin as an underlying biological mechanism for stress-protective effects of positive
social interactions.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Biological PsychiatryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Suppression of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses to stress in lactating women.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1995; 80: 2954-2959
- Normal CSF oxytocin and NPY levels in OCD.Biol Psychiatry. 1999; 45: 931-933
- Responses to laboratory psychosocial stress in postpartum women.Psychosom Med. 2001; 63: 814-821
- Pattern of oxytocin concentrations in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid of lactating rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1990; 71: 1531-1535
- Suckling-induced attenuation of plasma cortisol concentrations in postpartum lactating women.Endocr Res. 1994; 20: 79-87
- Plasma oxytocin levels in female fibromyalgia syndrome patients.Z Rheumatol. 2000; 59: 373-379
- Sniffing neuropeptides.Nat Neurosci. 2002; 5: 514-516
- Neuropsychological effects of vasopressin in healthy humans.Prog Brain Res. 1998; 119: 619-643
- The epidemiologic evidence for a relationship between social support and health.Am J Epidemiol. 1983; 117: 521-537
Brownstein MJ, Russell JT, Gainer H (1980): Synthesis, transport, and release of posterior pituitary hormones. Science 207:373–378
- Psychosocial risk factors for depressive disorders in late life.Biol Psychiatry. 2002; 52: 175-184
- Effect of a single dose of des-glycinamide-[Arg8]vasopressin or oxytocin on cognitive processes in young healthy subjects.Peptides. 1992; 13: 461-468
- Social support and schizophrenia.Arch Psychiatr Nursing. 1995; 9: 68-76
- Neuroendocrine perspectives on social attachment and love.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1998; 23: 779-818
- Integrative functions of lactational hormones in social behavior and stress management.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1997; 807: 164-174
- Relationship between plasma profiles of oxytocin and adrenocorticotropic hormone during suckling or breast stimulation in women.Horm Res. 1991; 35: 119-123
- CSF oxytocin in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.Am J Psychiatry. 1990; 147: 882-886
- Oxytocin in obsessive compulsive disorder.Peptides. 1992; 13: 1083-1085
- Central nervous system effects of the neurohypophyseal hormones and related peptides.Front Neuroendocrinol. 1993; 14: 251-302
- Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity to psychological stress and memory in middle-aged women.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2002; 27: 843-853
- Synthesis of a cortisol-biotin conjugate and evaluation as tracer in an immunoassay for salivary cortisol measurement.J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 1992; 43: 683-692
- Physiological and emotional response to psychological stressors in psychiatric and psychosomatic disorders.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998; 851: 477-486
- Behavioural impact of intraseptally released vasopressin and oxytocin in rats.Exp Physiol. 2000; 85: 125S-130S
- Intranasal oxytocin in obsessive-compulsive disorder.Biol Psychiatry. 1996; 40: 547-549
- Social support predicts 5-year outcome in first-episode schizophrenia.J Abnorm Psychol. 1998; 107: 681-685
- Social support at work, heart rate, and cortisol.J Occup Health Psychol. 2001; 6: 361-370
- Vasopressin but not oxytocin enhances cortical arousal.Psychopharmacology. 1988; 94: 496-500
- CSF oxytocin and vasopressin levels after recovery from bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa, bulimic subtype.Biol Psychiatry. 2000; 48: 315-318
- Cardiovascular and electrodermal responses to support and provocation.Psychophysiology. 2000; 37: 289-301
- Social support in social interaction.Psychosom Med. 1992; 54: 324-336
- Oxytocin and autistic disorder.Biol Psychiatry. 2001; 50: 609-613
- Does social support buffer functional decline in elderly patients with unipolar depression?.Am J Psychiatry. 2001; 158: 1850-1855
- Oxytocin and Behavior. Cuvillier, Gottingen, Germany2000
- Effects of suckling on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses to psychosocial stress in postpartum lactating women.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001; 86: 4798-4804
- Lactation and stress.Stress. 2002; 5: 195-203
- Social hierarchy and adrenocortical stress reactivity in men.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1997; 22: 643-650
- Reduced responses of prolactin and catecholamine to stress in the lactating rat.J Endocrinol. 1989; 122: 495-498
- Social relationships and health.Sci. 1988; 241: 540-545
- A neurobiological basis of social attachment.Am J Psychiatry. 1997; 154: 726-735
- The neurobiology of attachment.Nat Rev Neurosci. 2001; 2: 129-136
- Sex-specific effects of social support on cortisol and subjective responses to acute psychological stress.Psychosom Med. 1995; 57: 23-31
- Impact of gender, menstrual cycle phase, and oral contraceptives on the activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis.Psychosom Med. 1999; 61: 154-162
- The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’—a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting.Neuropsychobiology. 1993; 28: 76-81
- Social isolation and cardiovascular disease.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1998; 23: 877-890
- How do risk factors work together? Mediators, moderators, and independent, overlapping, and proxy risk factors.Am J Psychiatry. 2001; 158: 848-856
- Skalen Soziale Unterstützung SSU [Social Support Scales Manual]. Test manual. Dr. Schuhfried, Mödling, Germany1996
- Das State-Trait-Angstinventar. Theoretische Grundlagen und Handanweisungen [Manual for the State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory]. Beltz, Weinheim, Germany1981
- Elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of oxytocin in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Comparison with Tourette’s syndrome and healthy controls.Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994; 51: 782-792
- Inhibitory effect of oxytocin on corticotrope function in humans.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2001; 26: 649-655
- Social support lowers cardiovascular reactivity to an acute stressor.Psychosom Med. 1993; 55: 518-524
- Oxytocin responsivity in mothers of infants.Health Psychol. 2000; 19: 560-567
- Lactation inhibits stress-mediated secretion of corticosterone and oxytocin and hypothalamic accumulation of corticotropin-releasing factor and enkephalin messenger ribonucleic acids.Endocrinology. 1989; 124: 2358-2364
- Social skill as determinant of social networks and perceived social support in schizophrenia.Schizophr Res. 1998; 29: 275-286
- Psychological factors in heart failure.Arch Intern Med. 2002; 162: 509-516
- Cerebrospinal fluid levels of oxytocin in Prader-Willi syndrome.Biol Psychiatry. 1998; 44: 1349-1352
- Central nervous system actions of oxytocin and modulation of behavior in humans.Mol Med Today. 1997; 3: 269-275
- Plasma oxytocin levels in autistic children.Biol Psychiatry. 1998; 43: 270-277
- Simultaneous microdialysis in blood and brain.Neuroendocrinology. 1993; 58: 637-645
- Attenuated neuroendocrine responses to emotional and physical stressors in pregnant rats involve adenohypophysial changes.J Physiol. 1998; 508: 289-300
- Brain oxytocin inhibits the (re)activity of the hypothalamopituitary-adrenal axis in male rats.Regul Pept. 2000; 96: 31-38
- Brain oxytocin.Neuroscience. 2000; 95: 567-575
- Different patterns of oxytocin, prolactin but not cortisol release during breastfeeding in women delivered by caesarean section or by the vaginal route.Early Hum Dev. 1996; 45: 103-118
- Stress and affective disorders in humans.Semin Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2001; 6: 4-11
- Oxytocin control of maternal behavior. Regulation by sex steroids and offspring stimuli.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1997; 807: 126-145
- Oxytocin links mothering received, mothering bestowed and adult stress responses.Stress. 2002; 5: 159-267
- Effects of intranasal vasopressin and oxytocin on physiologic responding during personal combat imagery in Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.Psychiatry Res. 1993; 48: 107-117
- Impact of psychological factors on the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease and implications for therapy.Circulation. 1999; 99: 2192-2217
- Psychosocial influences on mortality after myocardial infarction.N Engl J Med. 1984; 311: 552-559
- Brain preparations for maternity—adaptive changes in behavioral and neuroendocrine systems during pregnancy and lactation. An overview.Prog Brain Res. 2001; 133: 1-38
- Effects of social support during weekend leave on cortisol and depression ratings.J Affect Disord. 2002; 71: 153-157
- Social support and health.J Personal Soc Relationships. 1991; 8: 99-127
- Health promoting effects of friends and family on health outcomes in older adults.Am J Health Promotion. 2000; 14: 362-370
- Impact of social environment characteristics on neuroendocrine regulation.Psychosom Med. 1996; 58: 459-471
- Psychosocial influences on the development and course of coronary heart disease.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2002; 70: 548-568
- The influence of social situations on ambulatory blood pressure.Psychosom Med. 1992; 54: 79-86
- Stress, social support and cardiovascular activity over the working day.Int J Psychophysiol. 2000; 37: 299-308
- Der Mehrdimensionale Befindlichkeitsfragebogen (MDBF). Hogrefe, Göttingen, Germany1997
- Immunofluorescence of vasopressin and oxytocin in the rat hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system.J Neural Transm. 1975; 36: 195-215
- Preliminary research on plasma oxytocin in normal cycling women.Psychiatry. 1999; 62: 97-113
- The relationship between social support and physiological processes.Psychol Bull. 1996; 119: 488-531
- The availability of social support reduces cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress.J Behav Med. 1997; 20: 15-27
- Social support and age-related differences in cardiovascular function.Ann Behav Med. 1999; 21: 135-142
- Relationship quality moderates the effect of social support given by close friends on cardiovascular reactivity in women.Int J Behav Med. 2002; 9: 243-262
- Oxytocin may mediate the benefits of positive social interaction and emotions.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1998; 23: 819-835
- High doses of oxytocin cause sedation and low doses cause and anxiolytic-like effect in male rats.Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1994; 49: 101-106
- Oxytocin as a possible mediator of SSRI-induced antidepressant effects.Psychopharmacology. 1999; 142: 95-101
- Identification of the vasopressin producing and of the oxytocin producing neurons in the hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory system of the rat.Cell Tissue Res. 1975; 164: 153-162
- Veiel H.O.F. Baumann U. The Meaning and Measurement of Social Support. Hemisphere, Washington1992
- The measurement of hormones in saliva.J Steroid Biochem. 1987; 27: 81-94
- Suckling is a persistent stimulus to the adrenocortical system of the rat.Endocrinology. 1992; 130: 115-125
- Dissociation between behavioral and hormonal responses to the forced swim stress in lactating rats.J Neuroendocrinol. 1995; 7: 615-622
- Central oxytocin administration reduces stress-induced corticosterone release and anxiety behavior in rats.Endocrinology. 1997; 138: 2829-2834
- Endocrine and behavioural responses to noise stress.J Neuroendocrinol. 1997; 9: 407-414
- Statistical Principles in Experimental Design. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, New York1971
- Dissociated central and peripheral release of vasopressin, but not oxytocin, in response to repeated swim stress.Neuroscience. 1998; 85: 1209-1222
- Hormonal evidence for altered responsiveness to social stress in major depression.Neuropsychopharmacology. 2000; 23: 411-418
- A self-rating depression scale.Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1965; 12: 63-70
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
April 17,
2003
Received in revised form:
April 16,
2003
Received:
February 7,
2003
Identification
Copyright
© 2003 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
