Salivary oxytocin in clinically anxious youth: Associations with separation anxiety and family accommodation

Eli R. Lebowitz, James F. Leckman, Ruth Feldman, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, Nicole McDonald, Wendy K. Silverman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

68 Scopus citations

Abstract

Clinical anxiety disorders in youth are common and associated with interpersonal behaviors including reliance on parents for family accommodation, or changes that parents make to their own behaviors to help the youth avoid anxiety related distress. The neuropeptide oxytocin is associated with the regulation of anxiety and of close interpersonal behavior leading to the hypothesis that oxytocinergic functioning plays a role in youth anxiety and its disorders, and the resulting family accommodation. To test this hypothesis salivary OT from 50 youth with primary DSM-anxiety disorders was assayed. A multi-source/multi-method anxiety assessment including semistructured interviews with youth and mothers, rating scales, and behavioral observations was used to assess anxiety disorders and symptoms, and family accommodation. Youth with separation anxiety disorder had significantly lower salivary OT levels than clinically anxious youth not diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. Salivary OT levels were significantly negatively correlated with separation anxiety symptoms based on both youth- and mother-ratings. Anxious behavior displayed by youth during interactions with their mothers was associated with lower salivary OT levels in youth. Maternal ratings of family accommodation were negatively associated with salivary OT levels in youth. Results support the role of the oxytocinergic system in youth anxiety and its disorders and in parental involvement in youth anxiety through family accommodation. OT may be particularly important for diagnoses and symptoms of separation anxiety, which is inherently interpersonal in nature. Findings have potentially important implications for assessment and treatment of anxiety in youth.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)35-43
Number of pages9
JournalPsychoneuroendocrinology
Volume65
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

Funding

Dr. Lebowitz receives royalties from John Wiley and Sons, and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht and research support from the National Institutes of Health and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. Dr. Leckman receives royalties from John Wiley and Sons, McGraw Hill, and Oxford University Press and research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Feldman receives research funding from the Simms–Mann Foundation and the Harris Foundation and the German–Israeli Foundation, and the US–Israel Bi-National Science Foundation. Dr. Silverman receives funding from National Institutes of Health. Drs. McDonald and Zagoory-Sharon have no financial interests to disclose. Financial support for this research came from the NIMH grant K23MH103555 to Dr. Lebowitz, and from a NARSAD Young Investigator Award (#21470) to Dr Lebowitz.

FundersFunder number
John Wiley and Sons
Simms-Mann Foundation
US-Israel bi-national Science Foundation
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Mental HealthK23MH103555
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression21470
Harris Foundation Las Vegas, Nevada
German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development

    Keywords

    • Anxiety disorders
    • Child
    • Mother-child relations
    • Oxytocin
    • Pituitary hormones
    • Posterior
    • Separation anxiety

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