Effects of Oxytocin on Behavior and Physiology in a Psychotherapy Setting (OT-PT)

October 13, 2014 updated by: Kai MacDonald, MacDonald, Kai, M.D.

Physiologic Correlates of Perceived [Therapist] Empathy and Social-Emotional Process During Psychotherapy: Testing Oxytocin in a Cross-Over Design Pilot Study

Subjects-currently in outpatient mental health care--will participate in 2 psychotherapy sessions, one with oxytocin spray and one with placebo spray. Sessions will be videotaped, and cortisol and heart rate will be measured. We hypothesize that oxytocin will have positive benefits on nonverbal behavior in the therapy session, as well as have positive effects on subjective anxiety, cortisol and heart rate.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

18

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • San Diego, California, United States, 92103
        • Kai MacDonald, MD 3368 2nd Ave Ste B

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • in current mental health treatment
  • male 18-65

Exclusion Criteria:

  • diagnosis of schizophrenia or psychosis
  • diagnosis of autism or Aspergers disorder
  • active substance use disorder
  • at moderate or high risk of self-harm

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Placebo then Oxytocin
Participant was randomized to receive placebo before the first psychotherapy session, and then received the active drug at the second visit.
Drug: Placebo then intranasal oxytocin
Participant received intranasal placebo spray at first psychotherapy session, and received a single dose of 40 IU intranasal oxytocin at the second session.
Experimental: Oxytocin then placebo
Participant was randomized to receive placebo before the first psychotherapy session, and then received the active drug at the second visit.
Drug: Intranasal oxytocin then placebo
Participant received a single dose of 40 IU intranasal oxytocin at the first psychotherapy session, and received a similar dose of intranasal placebo spray at the second session.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior in Therapy Session: Effects of Drug
Time Frame: videotapes of session were reviewed and scored 1-3 months after the patient completes the study
Videotapes of 2 therapy session (PBO/OT) were reviewed by blinded raters to determine differences in two treatments. There were nine aspects analyzed using the Ethological Coding System for Interviews: eye contact, affiliation, submission, prosocial, flight, assertion, displacement, relaxation, and gesture.
videotapes of session were reviewed and scored 1-3 months after the patient completes the study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Salivary Cortisol
Time Frame: before drug, before session, and 20 minutes after session
Salivary cortisol will be measured after the treatment, and before, during and after the therapy session.
before drug, before session, and 20 minutes after session
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Time Frame: continuously monitored from time before drug delivery to 20 minutes after session
HRV will be measured before, during and after the therapy session.
continuously monitored from time before drug delivery to 20 minutes after session
Subjective Ratings of Anxiety and Trust of the Therapist
Time Frame: measured before drug, immediately before session, and after the session
Patient will fill out ratings of subjective anxiety (STAI), mood and energy (PANAS), and trust (Likert scale) in the therapist before and after the session.
measured before drug, immediately before session, and after the session

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

MacDonald, Kai, M.D.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kai MacDonald, MD, UCSD

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 2008

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 3, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 4, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

March 5, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

October 16, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 13, 2014

Last Verified

October 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UCSD IRB 080953

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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