Oxytocin indexes relational distress following interpersonal harms in women

Abstract

Summary The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin, known for its involvement in social affiliation and bonding in animals, has recently been associated with a host of prosocial behaviors that are beneficial for maintaining positive social relationships in humans. Paradoxically, however, people with high endogenous levels of oxytocin also tend to report relational distress and interpersonal difficulties in their everyday lives. To address these contradictory findings, oxytocin reactivity was measured in response to a well-defined laboratory task in young adult women following recent interpersonal harms. Elevated mean peripheral oxytocin reactivity (but not baseline levels of oxytocin or cortisol reactivity) was associated with increased post-conflict anxiety and decreased levels of forgiveness. These results corroborate previous research implicating oxytocin as a neuroendocrine marker of relational distress, but not general stress, and demonstrate the utility of studying oxytocin in response to naturally occurring relational events.

The Social Salience Hypothesis of Oxytocin

“…Moreover, contrary to what would be predicted by the OT stress theory, it has been reported that offenders who experienced early childhood maltreatment show raised urinary OT levels (a putative measure of OT) (57,58) (However, see Heim et al for contradictory findings (59)). Similarly, plasma OT levels correlated with higher social anxiety symptoms in patients with Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder (60), as well as with interpersonal distress (17).…”

“…A growing list of studies have further demonstrated that OT can induce antisocial effects including aggression (14,16) and that high levels of endogenous OT are associated with relational distress and interpersonal difficulties (17,18). In addition, it was found that the effects of OT interact with contextual cues, gender, psychiatric conditions and personality traits (19)(20)(21)(22).…”

Dissecting the Role of Oxytocin in the Formation and Loss of Social Relationships

“…As such, the tend and befriend model has been proposed (74,75), which states that gaps in positive social relationships are accompanied by elevations in OXT and that these increased OXT levels prompt affiliative efforts aimed at restoring positive social contact. Of note, the interpretation of peripheral OXT measurements is hampered by methodological issues (76) and the absence of a strong linear relationship between peripheral and central OXT concentrations (77).…”

Relationship quality and oxytocin

“…Although OT is often referred to as the ''love hormone'' or ''cuddle hormone,'' some studies have reported that higher levels of OT are associated with relationship distress (Tabak, McCullough, Szeto, Mendez, & McCabe, 2011;Taylor et al, 2006;Taylor, Saphire-Bernstein, & Seeman, 2010), anxiety (Hoge, Pollack, Kaufman, Zak, & Simon, 2008), and depression (Cyranowski et al, 2008). These latter findings have been interpreted as evidence that the oxytocinergic pathway is a stress-responsive system and is activated as part of the body's secondary homeostatic efforts to dampen primary stress responses.…”