UC Riverside

Current literature suggests that there is a potential for intranasal oxytocin to have therapeutic benefits on stress response, physiological symptoms, and emotion regulation. The literature suggests that oxytocin is involved in social bonding, modulating the HPA axis, reducing stress, improving emotion regulation, and enhancing social cognition within neurotypical individuals. Despite this, there is limited research investigating the therapeutic benefits that intranasal oxytocin can provide on these same systems in autistic individuals. This proposed study aims to address that gap by comparing stress response after intranasal oxytocin versus placebo through salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase, heart rate, electroencephalography, and galvanic skin response. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an active oxytocin nasal spray or a placebo spray during each visit. Participants will then undergo an adapted version of the peer interaction paradigm (PIP). Measures of stress will be collected before and after the paradigm to look at the effects that the intranasal oxytocin had on an overall stress reduction compared to the placebo. Findings from the study could have the potential to clarify the positive effects of intranasal oxytocin on stress response in autistic adolescents.