Effect of oxytocin on empathy in male adolescents with conduct disorder / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effect of intranasal oxytocin administration on empathy in male adolescents with conduct disorder.Methods:The male adolescents with conduct disorder in the Psychological Counseling Clinic of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from September 2015 to August 2016 were selected.And they were randomly assigned to oxytocin group ( n=46) and placebo group ( n=51) by random number table. Subjects in oxytocin group were given nasal spray of 24 IU oxytocin twice per day for two weeks, while those in placebo group were given nasal spray of 0.9% sodium chloride solution for two weeks. The empathy of patients was assessed with a pain-related empathy task and interpersonal reactivity index (IRI) before and after two weeks′ administration. SPSS 20.0 software was used for statistical analysis, and repeated measurement analysis of variance was used to compare the empathy ability of the two groups before and after intervention. Results:Repeated measurement analysis of variance showed that there were significant time×group interaction effects in the scores of painful expressions during the pain-related empathy task ( F=13.86, P<0.001), IRI ( F=5.59, P=0.020) and empathic concern subscale ( F=4.99, P=0.028). There was significant between-group effect in the score of perspective-taking subscale of IRI( F=4.22, P=0.043). Simple effect analysis revealed that after two weeks of intervention, the score of needle-pain expression in oxytocin group was significantly higher than that at baseline ( t=-2.08, P=0.040). And the score of needle-pain expression in oxytocin group was significantly higher than that in placebo group ( t=2.33, P=0.022). After two weeks of intervention, the total IRI score ( t=-2.58, P=0.011) and empathy factor score ( t=-3.15, P=0.002) of oxytocin group were both higher than those at baseline. After intervention, the total IRI score ( t=2.30, P=0.024) and perspective-taking factor score ( t=2.57, P=0.012) in oxytocin group were higher than those in placebo group, and the differences were statistically significant. Conclusions:Oxytocin may improve the cognitive and emotional empathy in male adolescents with conduct disorder.