Mechanism-Focused Randomized Controlled Trials in Youths: Another Step Uphill
In this issue, Hwang et al. (1) report on a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of intranasal oxytocin for young people (mean age around 14 years) with severe irritability. For clinicians, RCTs like that of Hwang et al. hold the important promise of direct clinical translation. RCTs are the best way to estimate the causal effect of a treatment on a given outcome. In the best-case scenario, randomization balances (and therefore neutralizes) confounders, and the presence of an adequate and blinded control