Why Boys and Girls Handle Traumatic Events Differently

Traumatic events impact the brains of boys and girls differently, according to a new study out of Stanford University.

The insula, which is the part of the brain that processes feelings and pain, was discovered to be smaller in girls who suffered a particularly stressful event, whereas it was larger than usual for traumatized boys.

Researchers believe this could explain why girls are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than boys.

“The insula appears to play a key role in the development of PTSD,” said the study’s senior author, Victor Carrion, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford. “The difference we saw between the brains of boys and girls who have experienced psychological trauma is important because it may help explain differences in trauma symptoms between sexes.”

Not all young people who experience a traumatic event develop PTSD, but those who do suffer from flashbacks to the stressful event, have social withdrawal, and have difficulty sleeping and eating.

The researchers studied the brains of 59 adolescents between the ages of nine and 17. Out of the group studied, 14 girls and 16 boys had suffered at least one episode of severe stress, while the other group had not experienced a traumatic event. They found the insula region of the brain for the group of traumatized boys and girls had changed in size and volume.

Since boys and girls show different symptoms of PTSD, treatment should be considered by gender, according to the findings.

“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,” said Megan Klabunde, PhD, the study’s lead author and an instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “…By better understanding sex differences in a region of the brain involved in emotion processing, clinicians and scientists may be able to develop sex-specific trauma and emotion dysregulation treatments.”

The study also found that girls who suffer from PTSD may age faster than normal, in part due to the smaller insula.

“There are some studies suggesting that high levels of stress could contribute to early puberty in girls,” she said.

However, researchers say there needs to be more in-depth studies that follow the traumatized adolescents over a longer periods. They also said they need to test gender-specific treatment to see if they could actually be beneficial.