Boys and girls affected by stress differently, study suggests

A study conducted by Stanford University and published in Depression and Anxiety has found that stressful events affect the brains of girls and boys in different ways.

The research examined the brains of 59 children between the ages of nine and 17. One group had suffered at least one episode of severe stress or trauma while a second group had not.

The examinations found that in the group of traumatised boys and girls, there was evidence that one area of the insula - which is linked to emotions and empathy - had changed in size and volume compared with the group with no trauma. In particular, the size of the insula in traumatised girls appeared to be shrunken in size, but appeared larger than usual in traumatised boys.

The study’s findings suggest that boys and girls could display contrasting symptoms after a particularly distressing or frightening event, and should be treated differently as a result.

Lead study author Dr Megan Klabunde commented: "It is important that people who work with traumatised youth consider the sex differences.

"Our findings suggest it is possible that boys and girls could exhibit different trauma symptoms and that they might benefit from different approaches to treatment."

She added: "There are some studies suggesting that high levels of stress could contribute to early puberty in girls."