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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 94 · 2009

2 results

Intranasal oxytocin increases positive communication and reduces cortisol levels during couple conflict.

Ditzen B, Schaer M, Gabriel B, Bodenmann G, Ehlert U, Heinrichs M

Biological psychiatry22 Nov 2008Cited by 478 (Europe PMC)

PMID19027101 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.10.011 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-19027101
Publisher pagePubMedAsk about this study
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Summary

The text of this summary is not shown here, because the article license does not allow reuse. Read it at the source (opens in a new tab)

Text rights: Publisher copyright. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study2

2 results from studies that gave the peptide. 2 results from people.

  1. 01HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In heterosexual couples, intranasal oxytocin increased positive communication relative to negative behavior during a conflict discussion versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn couples, oxytocin nasal spray increased positive communication during a conflict discussion compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreasePositive relative to negative communication during couple conflict
    Study

    n = 94

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Social behavior and cognition · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Oxytocin significantly increased positive communication behavior in relation to negative behavior during the couple conflict discussion (F = 4.18, p = .047)
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In a double-blind placebo-controlled design, 47 heterosexual couples (total n = 94) received oxytocin or placebo intranasally before a standard instructed couple conflict discussion in the laboratory.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In heterosexual couples, intranasal oxytocin reduced salivary cortisol after a conflict discussion versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn couples, oxytocin nasal spray lowered the stress hormone cortisol in saliva after a conflict discussion compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseSalivary cortisol after couple conflict
    Study

    n = 94

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Stress hormones · Endocrine and hormones
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    significantly reduced salivary cortisol levels after the conflict compared with placebo (F = 7.14, p = .011)
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In a double-blind placebo-controlled design, 47 heterosexual couples (total n = 94) received oxytocin or placebo intranasally before a standard instructed couple conflict discussion in the laboratory.

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Registered trials2

Trials this study reports on, or that list this study as a reference. Registry data from ClinicalTrials.gov.

2 trials · 1 completed · 1 stopped early · source ClinicalTrials.gov (opens in a new tab)

CompletedEarly phase 1NCT03211013

Study of the Effects of Oxytocin on Attentional Bias and Startle in PTSD

Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Researchn = 1710 Jul 2017 to 9 Jun 2021

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Trial pageClinicalTrials.govUpdated 10 Jun 2021
WithdrawnPhase 1NCT01912378

Triadic Interactions of Families With Autism and Oxytocin

University of California, San Franciscon = 0Aug 2013 to May 2015

Autism Disorder

Trial pageClinicalTrials.govUpdated 16 Jan 2019

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

  1. Version 2Current

    11 Oct 2026, 01:30 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. Version 1

    9 Oct 2026, 02:50 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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