Intranasal Oxytocin Investigated for Emotion Regulation in Adolescents During Parental Disagreements

Adolescence is a critical period for developing emotion regulation skills, yet many adolescents struggle, particularly in stressful family interactions. Dysfunctional parent-child communication can exacerbate these difficulties, contributing to long-term mental health challenges. Oxytocin, a neuropeptide known for its roles in social bonding and stress reduction, has shown promise in modulating social cognition and emotional processing. However, its specific effects on real-world, high-stress social interactions, such as disagreements with parents, and the optimal administration route (intranasal vs. oral) for influencing neural responses in insecure adolescents remain underexplored. This study aims to fill that gap by examining how intranasal oxytocin impacts emotional and behavioral responses in this vulnerable population.

This randomized, double-blind, basic science study enrolled an estimated 80 healthy, insecure adolescents. Participants received either intranasal oxytocin or an oral comparator, with the specific dose and frequency of administration not detailed in the abstract. The primary objective was to compare the effects of oxytocin on neural responses to emotional scenes between intranasal and oral administration routes, measured via fMRI scanning approximately 45-70 minutes post-treatment. Secondary outcomes included comparing neural functional connectivity during emotional scene processing and correlating neural activation with observed behavioral effects during a simulated disagreement with parents. The study design focused on assessing changes in behavior and discourse during this stressful situation.