Why Baby Boys Feel More Stress Than Baby Girls Do

It’s common sense that babies need plenty of attention and loving care to thrive. But new risks have been uncovered that relate to infant care, and they apply specifically to baby boys.

A new review of empirical research by Allan N. Schore posits that the developing brain of the infant male is not able to regulate as well as the female brain, leaving baby boys more vulnerable to environmental stresses, and ultimately, to neuropsychiatric disorders including autism spectrum disorders.

In “All Our Sons: The developmental neurobiology and neuroendocrinology of boys at risk,” Schore writes that research “indicates that the stress-regulating circuits of the male brain mature more slowly than those of the female.”

In Psychology Today, Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D., summarizes that these neuropsychiatric disorders related to brain development “have been increasing in recent decades (interestingly, as more babies have been put into daycare settings, nearly all of which provide inadequate care for babies).”

Basically, infant day care attendance could be one factor related to the rise in disorders that skew heavily male, like autism spectrum disorders.

But should we panic about day care? Elizabeth Mack, a psychotherapist in private practice in Los Angeles and a mother of two boys, says “These findings are alarming, particularly for parents of boys. And while we should not ignore the correlation between greater numbers of boys diagnosed with disorders such as autism and ADHD as more and more babies enter day care, we must not forget that there are several factors that may account for higher rates of diagnosis, including the fact that there is more testing for these disorders going on than ever before.” So although more babies are in day care, more testing is going on, which naturally leads to more diagnoses. Correlation, in other words, does not equal causation.

“There is indeed evidence that boys are more vulnerable than girls to certain childhood problems (specifically, ADHD, conduct disorders and autism spectrum disorders),” says University of Southern California assistant professor of psychology Darby Saxbe. But she notes that, starting in adolescence, girls become more vulnerable to other problems, like anxiety and depression. “So it’s not necessarily the case that males are much more psychologically vulnerable than females across all domains, but it is the case that everyone — male or female — needs extra love and attention in infancy and early childhood because it is such a critical time for brain development.”