Attachment Style Moderates the Effects of Oxytocin on Social Behaviors and Cognitions During Social Rejection: Applying a Research Domain Criteria Framework to Social Anxiety
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Whereas the DSM categorizes individuals with similar self-reported symptoms, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) offers a new approach for classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behaviors and neurobiological measures. The objective of this proof-of-concept study is to adopt this approach by distinguishing individuals based on disorder-related personality traits during an experimental manipulation that targeted a disorder-related biological mechanism. Specifically, we examined whether attachment style moderated the effect of oxytocin administration on social behaviors and cognitions during a social exclusion test in individuals with social anxiety disorder. When receiving oxytocin compared to placebo, only individuals with low attachment avoidance displayed more social affiliation and cooperation, and only those with high attachment avoidance showed faster detection of disgust and neutral faces. Thus, attachment style moderated oxytocin's effects among individuals who shared the same DSM diagnosis. We conclude that neurobiological tests can inform new classification strategies by adopting an RDoC framework.
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Previous studies have reported several confounding factors such as individual differences in anxiety and attachment security that can influence the effects of oxytocin on social-emotional processing.
“Previous studies have reported several confounding factors such as individual differences in anxiety and attachment security that can influence the effects of oxytocin on social-emotional processing (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2011;Fang et al., 2014;Olff et al., 2013).”
From Meta-analysis of the effects of intranasal oxytocin on interpretation and expression of emotions (2017) · cites this paper as Fang et al., 2014
Factors such as attachment style and experience of early parental care have been found to moderate the effects of oxytocin; those scoring low on attachment avoidance and harsh parenting showed greater oxytocin-induced increase in social cooperation and positive response to crying infants.
“Factors such as attachment style and experience of early parental care have been found to moderate the effects of oxytocin; those scoring low on attachment avoidance and harsh parenting showed greater oxytocin-induced increase in social cooperation and positive response to crying infants (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2011;Fang et al., 2014;Olff et al., 2013).”
From Meta-analysis of the effects of intranasal oxytocin on interpretation and expression of emotions (2017) · cites this paper as Fang et al., 2014
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- Authors
- Fang, A., Hoge, E. A., Heinrichs, M., & Hofmann, S. G.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- Venue
- Clinical Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-04-08
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 740-747
- ISSN
- 2167-7026 (ISSN-L)
- 2167-7034
- PMC
- PMC4238933
- OpenAlex
- W2312886145
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 10.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Clinical Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
- FreiDok plus (Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg) (submittedVersion)
- OpenBU (Boston University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH078308)
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (R01AT007257)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- attachment styles, attachment avoidance, oxytocin, social rejection, social exclusion, social anxiety disorder, social affiliation, cooperation, face perception, Research Domain Criteria, personality traits, social cognition, moderation
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