Inhibitory abilities in girls and boys: More similarities or differences?

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Inhibitory abilities are crucial for cognitive control and behavior regulation.
• Existing literature on sex differences in inhibitory control has yielded mixed results.
• The multicomponential nature of inhibitory abilities and contextual factors are often overlooked.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize the literature on sex differences in inhibitory abilities from 1990 to 2020.
• To examine these differences in typically developing children and adolescents, as well as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• To identify factors influencing the manifestation of sex differences in inhibitory control.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of 38 articles published between 1990 and June 2020.
• Analysis focused on studies involving typically developing individuals, and those with ADHD or ASD.
• Consideration of task cognitive demand, contextual factors, and the multicomponential nature of inhibitory abilities.

Main Results:

• Task cognitive demand and contextual factors are important for revealing sex differences in inhibitory abilities.
• No conclusive evidence for sex differences in inhibitory abilities was found in children and adolescents with ADHD or ASD.
• A developmental asynchrony may explain higher performance in typically developing girls than boys on more demanding tasks.

Conclusions:

• Sex differences in inhibitory abilities are nuanced and depend on task complexity and context.
• The literature does not support sex differences in inhibitory abilities for ADHD and ASD populations.
• Further research should consider the multicomponential nature of inhibition and developmental trajectories.