Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Influence Of Depressive Symptomatology And Perceived Stress On Plasma And Salivary Oxytocin Before, During And After A Support Enhancement Intervention, Wendy C. Birmingham, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Kathleen C. Light

Faculty Publications

Oxytocin (OT) activity increases in response to stress as well as to warm social contact. Subclinical depression is associated with higher stress but less reward from social contacts. The present investigation was intended to examine whether husbands and wives with high depressive symptomatology scores have increased plasma and salivary OT that may be mediated partly by higher perceived stress, and also to assess whether an intervention to convey partner support through ‘‘warm touch’’ may reduce effects of depressive symptoms on OT. In this study, 34 healthy married couples (n = 68) ages 20—39 provided self reports of depressive symptoms (CESD) …