Gender as a moderator of memory after traumatic brain injury in children

To explore the possibility that gender has a moderating effect on memory after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Controlled group study. Gender effects between and within groups were evaluated by means of effect size comparisons and hierarchical regression analysis.

Regional rehabilitation center.

Seventy children with TBI, selected from a 4-year series of consecutive referrals, and 70 demographically matched controls.

Screening version of the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML-S) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III).

Boys with TBI performed worse than girls with TBI, and worse than their counterparts in the control group, on the WRAML-S. There was no gender effect in the control group. Gender explained an additional 9% of the variance in WRAML-S performance over and above injury severity and age variables. However, gender differences were largely attenuated when speed of information processing, as assessed by the WISC-III, was used as a covariate.

The effect of TBI on children's memory appears to be moderated by gender and may be mediated by speed of information processing.