Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo University, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
Servicio de Psiquiatria y Psicología, Hospital Clinic, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Dec 20;111:110098. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.110098. Epub 2020 Sep 13.
One of the most common mental disorders in the perinatal period is postpartum depression (PPD), which is associated with impaired emotional functioning due to alterations in different cognitive aspects including thought and facial emotion recognition (FER). Emotional impairments may affect the interaction and care offered to infants and their later development and therefore interventions with potential to minimize impairments associated with PPD are opportune. Oxytocin (OXT) was shown to have therapeutic properties associated with the promotion of affiliative and pro-social behaviors in different mental disorders. Few studies have assessed its therapeutic potential in PPD.
To assess the effects of the acute administration of intranasal OXT (24 IU) on FER of baby faces and negative thoughts after delivery in mothers with and without PPD.
We conducted a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a crossover design involving mothers with PPD (N = 20) and without PPD (N = 35) in the puerperium. Participants completed a static task of FER of baby faces and a questionnaire of post-natal negative thoughts.
Mothers with PPD had increased scores of negative thoughts about motherhood/infants, but no impairments in FER, when compared to healthy mothers. OXT had no effects on the rates of correct judgments or response times in the FER task, but was associated with response biases to facial happiness and the reduction of negative thoughts in mothers with PPD.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: OXT may have positive effects on maternal affiliative behavior, maternal care, and mother-infant interactions as suggested by changes found in different cognitive aspects, thus minimizing the deleterious effects of PPD on child development.
围产期最常见的精神障碍之一是产后抑郁症（PPD），其与不同认知方面的改变有关，包括思维和面部情绪识别（FER），导致情绪功能受损。情绪障碍可能会影响与婴儿的互动和护理，以及他们日后的发育，因此，有必要采取潜在的干预措施来减轻与 PPD 相关的损害。催产素（OXT）已被证明具有治疗作用，可促进不同精神障碍中的亲和和亲社会行为。很少有研究评估其在 PPD 中的治疗潜力。
评估鼻内给予催产素（24 IU）对产后有和无 PPD 的母亲的婴儿面孔 FER 和负面想法的急性作用。
我们进行了一项随机双盲、安慰剂对照、交叉设计的临床试验，纳入了围产期的 PPD 母亲（N=20）和无 PPD 母亲（N=35）。参与者完成了婴儿面孔 FER 的静态任务和产后负面想法的问卷。
与健康母亲相比，患有 PPD 的母亲对母亲/婴儿的负面想法得分增加，但 FER 没有受损。OXT 对 FER 任务中正确判断的比率或反应时间没有影响，但与母亲对面部幸福感的反应偏差以及减少 PPD 母亲的负面想法有关。
讨论/结论：OXT 可能对母婴亲和行为、母婴护理和母婴互动产生积极影响，这表明不同认知方面的变化可以最小化 PPD 对儿童发育的不利影响。
