The role of the endogenous oxytocin system under psychosocial stress conditions in adolescents suffering from anxiety disorder: study protocol for a parallel group controlled trial.

Due to the high prevalence and comorbidity rate with numerous other psychiatric disorders and mental health problems, there is an urgent need to strengthen research in possible neurobiological underpinnings of anxiety disorders. To our knowledge, the proposed experiment is the first study to examine the endocrinological oxytocin and cortisol reaction to an acute psychosocial stressor in children and adolescents with mental health disorders. Trial registration The study is registered in the German Clinical Trials Register since 11 September 2019, DRKS00017793, https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00017793 .