Is the “social hormone” oxytocin relevant to psychotherapy treatment outcomes? A systematic review of observational and experimental studies

IF 7.5 1区医学 Q1 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Pub Date : 2024-10-30 DOI:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105935

Caio Hummel Hohl , Sigal Zilcha-Mano , Jaime Delgadillo

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Abstract

Background

Oxytocin, popularly known as the “social hormone”, has wide implications for the regulation of socially relevant cognitions, emotions and behaviors. Individual differences in oxytocin may be relevant to mental health treatment outcomes, given the centrality of the therapeutic relationship in psychotherapy.

Methods

This systematic review aimed to synthesize findings from psychotherapy studies that examined oxytocin measurement and augmentation methods and their association with treatment outcomes. The methodology was preregistered in the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/xtyvc/?view_only=2bc37dc0b2cd41f8939e2964bd8b884f). Five databases were searched on 30th of March 2023 (PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Medline, PsycINFO). Eligible studies were assessed for risk of bias and findings were summarized using narrative synthesis and vote counting methods.

Results

Overall, 24 studies (n=881 participants) including experimental and observational designs and covering various diagnostic groups were reviewed. Findings from 9 studies (n=406) indicate that oxytocin measures were associated with psychotherapy treatment outcomes for depression, and oxytocin-augmentation improved depression outcomes. Results regarding other mental disorders were mixed and inconclusive.

Discussion

Current evidence indicates that oxytocin-augmented psychotherapy for depression warrants further research. Currently there is not sufficient evidence to draw firm conclusions regarding the clinical relevance of oxytocin in the context of other disorders. Key limitations are the lack of meta-analytic synthesis and small sample sizes for primary studies.

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社会荷尔蒙 "催产素与心理治疗结果有关吗？观察性和实验性研究的系统回顾。

背景介绍催产素俗称 "社交荷尔蒙"，对调节与社交相关的认知、情绪和行为有着广泛的影响。鉴于治疗关系在心理治疗中的核心地位，催产素的个体差异可能与心理健康治疗的结果有关：本系统综述旨在综合心理疗法研究的结果，这些研究考察了催产素的测量和增强方法及其与治疗效果的关系。该方法已在开放科学框架（https://osf.io/xtyvc/?view_only=2bc37dc0b2cd41f8939e2964bd8b884f）中预先注册。2023 年 3 月 30 日，对五个数据库（PubMed、SCOPUS、Web of Science、Medline、PsycINFO）进行了检索。对符合条件的研究进行了偏倚风险评估，并采用叙事综合法和计票法对研究结果进行了总结：总共审查了 24 项研究（人数=881 人），包括实验性和观察性设计，涵盖了不同的诊断组别。9项研究（人数=406）的结果表明，催产素测量与抑郁症的心理治疗效果相关，催产素增强可改善抑郁症的治疗效果。有关其他精神障碍的研究结果不一，尚无定论：目前的证据表明，催产素增强型抑郁症心理疗法值得进一步研究。目前还没有足够的证据就催产素对其他精神障碍的临床意义得出确切的结论。主要的局限性在于缺乏荟萃分析综合以及主要研究的样本量较小。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 医学-行为科学

CiteScore

14.20

自引率

3.70%

发文量

466

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： The official journal of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society publishes original and significant review articles that explore the intersection between neuroscience and the study of psychological processes and behavior. The journal also welcomes articles that primarily focus on psychological processes and behavior, as long as they have relevance to one or more areas of neuroscience.