The effect of intranasal oxytocin administration on the social behavior of individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACT Title: The effects of intranasal oxytocin administration in people with autism spectrum disorder. Background: The existing literature suggests that the baseline oxytocin levels in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder are lower compared to neurotypicals and this might be the reason for the difference in social behavior. Methods: A systematic review of studies between 2003 and 2023 examining the effect of intranasal oxytocin administration on participants with Autism Spectrum Disorder on Scopus, Google Scholar, and Nature.com research databases was conducted. 42 reports were eligible for the final assessment and 9 of them were included in the meta-analysis. The multivariate meta-analysis model has been used to analyze the extracted data. Results: Of the 666 reports identified, 9 of the studies that assessed the pre and post-administration effects were analyzed. The findings suggest that the meta-analytic effect size corresponds to Cohen`s d+0.09, with a 95% confidence interval of [-0.19, 0.37], and an estimated heterogeneity equal to tau = 0.34, which is substantial relative to the effect size. Conclusion: The substantial heterogeneity shows the variety of the results that are included in the analysis. The varied results may be due to differences between the samples, study designs, and methodologies. The findings emphasize the need for caution while interpreting the effects of oxytocin on the social behavior of individuals with autism. Further research should aim to analyze larger samples to ensure the moderating effect of oxytocin between neurodivergent and neurotypical groups.