Cardoso, Christopher; Linnen, Anne-Marie; Ellenbogen, Mark A.; Joober, Ridha
Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montréal, Canada; Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Montréal, Canada
Chronic interpersonal
stress has been associated with the development of physical (Swaab, Bao, &
Lucassen, 2005) and mental illness (Tull, Jakupak, & McFadden, 2007). Both
biological and psychological factors appear to be implicated in the regulation
of interpersonal stress. For example, emotion-oriented coping represents a
maladaptive coping style that increases stress reactivity to interpersonal
challenge (Ravindran, et al., 2002). Moreover, there is recent biological evidence to
suggest that exogenously administered oxytocin attenuates the stress response
to conflict among couples (Ditzen, et al., 2009). The aim of the present study
was to examine the interaction between oxytocin and coping style on the mood
response to an interpersonal stressor.
Ninety-nine
undergraduate students participated in the Yale Interpersonal Stressor (YIPS;
Stroud et al., 2000), a live social rejection paradigm. Prior to the start of
the YIPS, participants were administered either a single intranasal dose of oxytocin
(24 I.U.) or placebo. Affect was measured via the Profile of Mood States (POMS),
which was administered at four separate intervals throughout the paradigm. Coping
style was measured using the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS).
Statistical analyses
were conducted on the composed-anxiety scale of the POMS. A repeated measures
analysis revealed a significant effect of mood across time (F (3, 95) =
27.63, p < .001, η2 = .22). Relative to baseline, participants reported a significant increase in
anxiety in response to the YIPS. Among females, a significant interaction was
obtained between emotion-oriented coping and drug condition (oxytocin, placebo;
ΔR2 = .09, F(1, 46) = 4.63, p < .05). The
administration of oxytocin was associated with a reduction in anxiety, relative
to placebo, in females high in emotion-oriented coping.
In the present study,
oxytocin attenuated the anxiety response to the YIPS among females high in
emotion-oriented coping. Considering that emotion-oriented coping is typically
associated with heightened stress reactivity, our results indicate that oxytocin
may be modulating this relationship.
