Abstract

The current study examined whether stress-induced peripheral oxytocin (OT) was associated with support-seeking behaviors after stress in daily life. Healthy male and female participants (N=94) performed a standardized laboratory stressor, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and then completed two weeks of daily assessments of support seeking after stress. In line with preregistered hypotheses, plasma OT reactivity to the TSST (indexed as the area under the curve with respect to increase; AUCi) was associated with more frequent support seeking behaviors following stress in daily life. Moreover, this association was stronger for individuals with higher levels of attachment anxiety, relative to those with lower levels of attachment anxiety, after controlling for attachment avoidance. While attachment avoidance did not moderate the effect of AUCi, our preregistered exploratory analyses revealed a significant moderation of attachment avoidance using another common index of neuroendocrine (i.e., area under the curve with respect to ground; AUCg). Taken together, these results provide empirical support for theoretical models implicating the OT system in affiliative behaviors following stress, as well as its interactions with adult attachment style.

Degree Date

Spring 2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Benjamin Tabak

Number of Pages

50

Format

.pdf

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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