Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel.
Shalvata Mental Health Center, Affiliated with the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Psychother Res. 2024 Nov;34(8):1092-1102. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2023.2269300. Epub 2023 Oct 19.
The effects of oxytocin (OT) administration on psychotherapeutic processes have thus far been elusive. This study explored the effect of OT administration on patient-therapist congruence of the working alliance.
Inpatients with mental disorders (= 87) participating in a randomized controlled trial received OT (= 44) or placebo (= 43) intranasally twice a day, for four weeks. Patients and therapists rated the alliance after each session.
Oxytocin significantly moderated the level of agreement ( = -0.56, = 0.25, = -2.30, = 0.02), such that patients receiving OT demonstrated lower discrepancy ( = -0.73, < 0.001) than did those receiving placebo ( = -1.30, < 0.001). On the other hand, the mutual covariance of patient-therapist ratings across sessions was positive and significant for patients receiving placebo (= 0.26, = 0.01) but not for patients in the OT group (= -0.06, = .56).
Oxytocin can reduce discrepancies of patient-therapist perceptions of the alliance, although additional studies are needed to explore OT's effect on alliance development over time. As alliance congruence is associated with therapy outcomes, such intervention may lead to enhancement of therapeutic gains.
催产素（OT）给药对心理治疗过程的影响至今仍难以捉摸。本研究探讨了 OT 给药对患者-治疗师工作联盟一致性的影响。
参加随机对照试验的精神障碍住院患者（=87）每天两次接受 OT（=44）或安慰剂（=43）鼻内给药，为期四周。患者和治疗师在每次治疗后对联盟进行评分。
OT 显著调节了一致性水平（ =−0.56， =0.25， =−2.30， =0.02），接受 OT 的患者表现出较低的差异（ =−0.73，<0.001），而接受安慰剂的患者则表现出较高的差异（ =−1.30，<0.001）。另一方面，对于接受安慰剂的患者，患者-治疗师评分在整个治疗过程中的相互协方差是正的且显著的（ =0.26， =0.01），而对于接受 OT 的患者则不然（ =−0.06， =0.56）。
OT 可以减少患者-治疗师对联盟的感知差异，尽管需要进一步的研究来探讨 OT 对联盟随时间发展的影响。由于联盟一致性与治疗结果相关，因此这种干预可能会导致治疗效果的提高。
