Trial reportNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2020
The effect of methylphenidate on social cognition and oxytocin in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Trial report in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Methylphenidate for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Endogenous oxytocin and human social interactions: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological bulletinPooled it
- Associations between anterior hypothalamic subunits and ADHD and autistic traits revealed by deep learning MRI segmentation.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- The Role of Pharmacotherapy in Social Cognition, Empathy, and Serum Oxytocin Levels in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Case-Control Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
- Oxytocin as a physiological correlate of dyadic music therapy relationships - a randomized crossover pilot study.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2024Article
- Response of peer relations and social activities to treatment with viloxazine extended-release capsules (QelbreeBrain and behavior · 2023Article
- Effect of short-term methylphenidate on social impairment in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: systematic review.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2022Review
- When Helping Is Risky: The Behavioral and Neurobiological Trade-off of Social and Risk Preferences.Psychological science · 2021Article
- Biological Bases of Empathy and Social Cognition in Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Focus on Treatment with Psychostimulants.Brain sciences · 2021Review
- Treatment with Methylphenidate Improves Affective but Not Cognitive Empathy in Youths with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The Potential Role of Dopamine in Mediating Motor Function and Interpersonal Synchrony.Biomedicines · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The current study aimed to explore the possible effect of stimulants on oxytocin (OT), a neuropeptide which regulates social behavior, as a mediator of the pro-social effect of methylphenidate (MPH) in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared to healthy controls (HCs). Utilizing a double-blind placebo-controlled design, we compared the performance of 50 children with ADHD and 40 HCs in "theory of mind" (ToM) tasks and examined the effect of a single dose of MPH/placebo on ToM and salivary OT levels in children with ADHD at baseline and following an interpersonal interaction. Children with ADHD displayed significantly poorer ToM performance; however, following MPH administration, their performance normalized and differences between children with ADHD and HC were no longer found. Salivary OT levels at baseline did not differ between children with ADHD and HCs. However, after a parent-child interaction, OT levels were significantly higher in the HC group compared to children with ADHD. Administration of MPH attenuated this difference such that after parent-child interaction differences in OT levels between children with ADHD and HC were no longer found. In the ADHD group, OT levels decreased from administration of placebo to the parent-child interaction. However, the administration of MPH to children with ADHD was associated with an increase in OT levels after the parent-child interaction. We conclude that OT might play a role as a mediator of social deficits in children with ADHD and that the reactivity of the OT system to social interaction in children with ADHD might be impaired. Stimulants may improve ToM and social functions in children with ADHD via its impact on the OT system. PRS: OT and Social Cognition in Children with ADHD: Impact of MPH.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.