Gender Differences in Neurocognitive Performance Among Children With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are frequent sequelae after motor vehicle accidents (MVAs). These two pathologies often have overlapping neurocognitive deficits across several domains, such as attention, memory, and executive functions. The present study was an effort to examine the contribution of gender to these overlapping symptoms. To this end, psychodiagnostic and neuropsychological data were collected on 61 children and adolescents 3 months following MVA. All participants were diagnosed with PTSD, and about half (n = 33) also received a diagnosis of mTBI. Analyses of variance revealed significant interactions between gender and mTBI (ηp2=.15), such that girls with mTBIs preformed significantly worse than noninjured girls on measures of executive functions (Cohen's d = 3.88) and sustained attention (Cohen's d = 3.24). Boys, on the other hand, did not differ significantly on any of those measures, irrespective of TBI injury status. Similarly, comparisons to the normative population revealed that, whereas boys showed impaired neurocognitive performances regardless of TBI status, impaired performances in girls were limited to those cases in which the girls were comorbid for PTSD and mTBI. It appears then that whereas PTSD alone might explain boys’ reduced neurocognitive performance, among girls the comorbidity of PTSD and mTBI is required to account for performance deficits. Resumen Spanish s by the Asociación Chilena de Estrés Traumático (ACET) Diferencias de género en el rendimiento neurocognitivo entre niños con TEPT y lesión cerebral traumática leve COMORBILIDAD Y DIFERENCIAS NEUROCOGNITIVAS DE GÉNERO El trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT) y la lesión cerebral traumática leve (LCTl o en inglés, “mild traumatic brain injury”‐ mTBI) son secuelas frecuentes después de accidentes automovilísticos (AAM). Estas dos patologías a menudo tienen deficiencias neurocognitivas superpuestas en varios dominios, como la atención, la memoria y las funciones ejecutivas. El presente estudio fue un esfuerzo para examinar la contribución del género a estos síntomas superpuestos. Con este fin, se recogieron datos psicodiagnósticos y neuropsicológicos de 61 niños y adolescentes tres meses después de un AAM. Todos los participantes fueron diagnosticados con TEPT, y aproximadamente la mitad (n = 33) también recibió un diagnóstico de LCTl. Los análisis de varianza revelaron interacciones significativas entre género y LCTl (ηp 2