Oxytocin Enhances Social-Emotional Reciprocity in Autism
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Objective
We evaluated whether oxytocin improves social-emotional reciprocity in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a data-driven outcome learning approach.
Method
We conducted a secondary analysis of the SOARS-B trial, a 24-week, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of intranasal oxytocin in 272 youth with ASD, followed by a 24-week open-label extension. Machine learning identified composite outcome measures most sensitive to treatment effects, standardized so that lower values indicate better functioning. The primary endpoint was the average change in the Aberrant Behavior Checklist modified Social Withdrawal (ABC-mSW) subscale between weeks 12 and 24. We replicated findings using the Social Respon-siveness Scale-2 Emotion Recognition (SRS2-ER) subscale and the open-label phase of the trial. Permutation testing rigorously controlled the Type I error rate under outcome learning.
Results
Oxytocin significantly increased emotional responsiveness in the learned ABC-mSW composite (mean Cohen’s d = −0.25, p = 0.014) and improved social-emotional reciprocity in the learned SRS2-ER composite (mean d = −0.43, p = 0.022) compared to placebo. Both effects replicated in the open-label phase, with prior placebo participants also improving on the ABC-mSW composite (mean d = −0.20, p = 0.035) and the SRS2-ER composite ( d = −0.70, p < 0.001) after crossing over to oxytocin.
Conclusion
We provide robust evidence that oxytocin enhances social-emotional reciprocity in ASD – a rare finding given that most pharmacologic trials for core ASD symptoms are negative. These findings highlight the value of outcome learning for detecting nuanced treatment effects and support oxytocin’s potential as a targeted intervention in ASD.
