Psychiatry Investig.  2018 Nov;15(11):1079-1086. 10.30773/pi.2018.08.31.

The Relationship between Plasma Oxytocin Levels and Social Anxiety Symptoms

• Oh KS
• Kim EJ
• Ha JW
• Woo HY
• Kwon MJ
• Shin DW
• Shin YC
• Lim SW

• KMID: 2427576
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2018.08.31

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The pathophysiology of social anxiety disorder (SAD) is not yet well understood, but previous research has suggested that oxytocin is associated with social behavior and may play a role in human anxiety states and anxiety-related traits. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between social anxiety symptoms and plasma oxytocin levels.
METHODS
Twenty-three male patients with SAD and 28 healthy male controls participated in this study. All participants were assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). Multivariate regression analysis was performed to identify associations between plasma oxytocin levels and SAD.
RESULTS
In multiple regression models, after controlling for age and years of education, we found that higher oxytocin levels were significantly associated with higher total LSAS scores (R²=0.157, coefficient=0.145, 95% CI=-0.0005-0.291, p=0.051) and fear subscale scores (R²=0.134, coefficient=0.083, 95% CI=0.007-0.159, p=0.034) in the SAD group.
CONCLUSION
In this study, increased plasma oxytocin levels were associated with higher social anxiety symptoms among SAD patients, but not among controls. This might be because among SAD patients, higher oxytocin (OT) secretion is an insufficient compensatory attempt to reduce social anxiety symptoms.

Keyword

Social anxiety disorder; Oxytocin; Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale; Fear; Avoidance

MeSH Terms

Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety*
Education
Humans
Male
Oxytocin*
Plasma*
Social Behavior
Oxytocin