2-162 - Oxytocin, Parenting and Child Development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

On the internet oxytocin is the most popular nonapeptide, with more than 7 million hits, and its popularity has been growing exponentially during the past ten years. Oxytocin (OT) is labeled the ‘love hormone’ and widely advertised as a wonder drug to enhance the individual’s social skills on the job and at home, and to cure or alleviate more serious illnesses such as depression, posttraumatic stress, autism, and other psychiatric syndromes. After the initial excitement about positive effects on trust and attachments it soon became clear that OT might be anxiolytic and facilitate prosocial behavior but may also stimulate aggression and selfish behavior, with varying effects depending on social context, personality, personal history and gender.
In this symposium we will present recent work pertinent to the study of the role of endogenous as well as intranasally administered oxytocin in parenting and child development. The first presentation focuses on intranasal oxytocin administered to monogamous species such as prairie voles and titi monkeys with very active fathers, to examine gender-specific effects of oxytocin. The second presentation highlights the moderating role of negative childhood experiences on the effects of oxytocin on the perception of infants’ emotional faces. The third presentation emphasizes the influence of context on the effects of oxytocin on autobiographical memory. The fourth presentation shows synchronized hormonal functioning in mothers, fathers and infants, offering an integrated neural model of human mothering and fathering. Together the presentations provide a window on current oxytocin research with wide-ranging implications for parenting and child development.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chairs

• Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn, Leiden University

• Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg, Leiden University

Individual Presentations

• Effects of Chronic Intranasal Oxytocin Administered During Development: Voles, Mice, and Monkeys - Presenting Author: Karen Bales, University of California, Davis

• Maltreatment, Oxytocin, and the Perception of Emotional Infant Faces - Presenting Author: Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg, Leiden University; Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn, Leiden University; Ritu Bhandari, Leiden University; Alexandra Voorthuis, Leiden University; Madelon Riem, Leiden University

• Intranasal Oxytocin and Changes in Self-Perception: Studies of Autobiographical Memory - Presenting Author: Mark A Ellenbogen, Concordia University; Christopher Cardoso, Concordia University; Mark A Orlando, Concordia University; Christopher Kalogeropoulos, Concordia University; Christopher A. Brown, Concordia University

• Oxytocin and the Parental Brain - Presenting Author: Ruth Feldman, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan