Trial reportPsychopharmacology2024
Randomized controlled trial of propranolol on social communication and anxiety in children and young adults with autism spectrum disorder.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Towards Mechanism-Informed Treatments for Mental Health.Journal of neurochemistry · 2026Review
- Successful bilateral electroconvulsive therapy for catatonia presenting with novel climbing behavior in an adolescent withFrontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Therapeutic potential of propranolol in central nervous system disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Cardiac Autonomic Measures Predict Clinician-Rated Anxiety and Behavioral Response to Propranolol in Autistic Children and Young Adults.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Article
- A Pilot Feasibility Study Assessing the Combined Effects of Early Behavioral Intervention and Propranolol on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Remotely supervised at-home delivery of taVNS for autism spectrum disorder: feasibility and initial efficacy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impaired social communication and is also frequently characterized by co-occurring anxiety. Propranolol is widely utilized to treat performance and public speaking anxiety. Single-dose psychopharmacological challenge studies suggested benefits using propranolol for verbal tasks and social interaction.
objectiveWe conducted a double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of the β-adrenergic antagonist propranolol in ASD for social interaction, anxiety, and language.
methodsSeventy-four participants with ASD, age 7-24 years, were enrolled and randomized to a 12-week course of propranolol or placebo, with blinded assessments at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the General Social Outcome Measure-2 (GSOM-2) for social interaction, and secondary outcomes were the Clinician Global Clinical Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) ratings independently conducted for social interaction, anxiety, and language at 6 weeks and 12 weeks.
resultsSixty-nine participants completed the 12-week visit. No significant effect of drug was found for the GSOM-2 or the CGI-I for social interaction or language. CGI-I for anxiety showed greater improvement with propranolol at the 12-week time point (p = 0.045, odds ratio = 2.58 (95% CI = 1.02-6.52). Expected decreases in heart rate and blood pressure were observed with propranolol, and side effects were uncommon.
conclusionsPropranolol did not impact social interaction measures or language, but there were indications of a beneficial effect for anxiety. This will need confirmation in a larger multicenter trial, monitoring markers or characteristics to identify those participants most likely to respond to propranolol for anxiety, and determine whether there is a subset of participants that are responsive for other previously reported outcomes.
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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.