A Female Advantage in Cognitive Recovery From Early Cerebral Insult

Gender differences in cognitive outcome were examined in children born prematurely who had incurred early cerebral lesions and in a high-risk comparison group. The boys and girls, who had suffered perinatal intracranial hemorrhage-the most common neurological insult in the preterm infant-were similar in their antenatal, perinatal, and postnatal course, as well as in their sociofamilial attributes. After statistical adjustment to account for the extent of the insult, a significant gender difference in cognitive recovery was observed in the lesion group. Girls outperformed boys by about half a standard deviation on standardized intelligence tests. No gender differences were observed in the comparison group. The implications of the results for theories and empirical findings on gender differences in vulnerability to deviation from normal development are discussed.