Behavioral effects of multiple-dose oxytocin treatment in autism: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial with long-term follow-up.
Sylvie Bernaerts, Bart Boets, Guy Bosmans and 2 others
PMID 31969977WHAT IT FOUND
Four weeks of daily intranasal oxytocin did not improve social symptoms compared to placebo.
However, it significantly reduced repetitive behaviors and feelings of attachment avoidance. These benefits lasted up to one year. This was a small pilot in adult men, so results are preliminary.
Key findings
01The primary outcome of social symptoms showed no significant difference between the oxytocin and placebo groups.
02Oxytocin treatment produced significant reductions in repetitive behaviors and attachment avoidance that persisted for up to one year post-treatment.
03The study was a small pilot in adult men with autism, and the positive secondary findings were exploratory without correction for multiple comparisons.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This was a small pilot study with only 40 participants, limiting statistical power. The study included only adult men with ASD, so results cannot be generalized to women or children. The positive findings for repetitive behaviors and attachment avoidance were secondary, exploratory outcomes that were not corrected for multiple comparisons. Assessments relied heavily on self-report questionnaires, which are subject to subjective bias. The dosing regimen (once daily) differed from many prior studies that used twice-daily administration.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Marguerite-Marie Delacroix Foundation, and Branco Weiss Fellowship of the Society in Science of ETH Zurich. The text does not report any commercial conflicts of interest or involvement of pharmaceutical companies in the design, analysis, or writing of the report.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant reductions in repetitive behaviors and attachment avoidance as proven efficacy for oxytocin. These were secondary, exploratory findings in a small pilot study without correction for multiple comparisons, and the primary outcome of social symptoms was null.