Sex differences in performance over 7 years on the Wechsler, Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised among adults with intellectual disability
Sex differences in performance over 7 years on the Wechsler, Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised among adults with intellectual disability
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1365-2788.2004.00500.x
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发表时间：
2004-02-01
影响因子：
3.6
通讯作者：
Devenny, DA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kittler, P;Krinsky-McHale, SJ;Devenny, DA
背景 本研究的目的是探讨患有智力障碍 (ID) 的中年成人在 7 年的时间间隔内韦克斯勒儿童智力量表 - 修订版 (WISC-R) 子测试表现与性别差异相关的变化。认知性别差异在普通人群中已得到广泛研究，但关于智力障碍个体的报道很少。性别差异与当前备受争议的问题相关，例如更年期期间的认知变化和阿尔茨海默病的风险。鉴于在一般人群中观察到激素对认知的影响，特别是在视觉空间处理等领域，并且据报道患有唐氏综合症 (DS) 的个体在激素和生殖方面不典型，我们分析了我们的数据，以考虑这些成年人性别差异的病因学特异性概况的可能性。方法 WISC-R 子测试在一项纵向研究中进行，作为更全面的测试组合的一部分，在 7 年内至少进行两次。参与者为 18 名患有 ID 且无 DS 的女性 [第一次测试时的年龄（时间 I）：平均值 = 40.5；智商：平均值 = 59.3]，10 名患有 DS 的男性（时间 I：平均值 = 42.4；智商：平均值 = 59.4），21 名患有 DS 的女性（时间 I：平均值 = 37.9，智商：平均值 = 51.6），以及 21 名患有 DS 的男性（时间 I：平均值 = 40.3；智商：平均值 = 54.3）。所有参与者的智力障碍均处于轻度至中度范围内，并且没有表现出提示早期痴呆的变化。结果，无论智力障碍的行为学如何，女性在编码子测试中都表现出强大的优势，这与广泛报道的一般人群中成年人之间的差异相似。此外，在 7 年的研究间隔期间，总体表现有所下降，特别是在语言子量表测试方面，但没有证据表明存在性别差异的下降。对象组装和块设计子测试中的病因学相互作用也存在边缘性别，这表明具有未明确 ID 的男性可能比女性同龄人表现得更好，但在患有 DS 的成年人中，女性可能比男性表现得更好。 结论 这项研究支持 ID 人群中存在认知性别差异，正如 WISC-R 编码子测试中女性优越所表明的那样。将这一观察扩展到患有智力障碍的成年人，对于解释女性在这项任务中的优势具有重要意义，现在必须解释女性在这项任务中的优势，这些个体具有比以前认为的更广泛的智力能力、更非典型的发展历史和更多样的基因型。两个视觉建构子测试的病因学相互作用对性别的趋势虽然微乎其微，但足以保证继续考虑患有 DS 的成人性别差异的独特概况的想法，并证明在 ID 的不同病因中分别研究性别的影响是合理的。
Background The aim of this study was to explore changes related to sex differences on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised (WISC-R) subtest performance over a 7-year interval in middle-aged adults with intellectual disability (ID). Cognitive sex differences have been extensively studied in the general population, but there are few reports concerning individuals with ID. Sex differences are of current relevance to actively debated issues such as cognitive changes during menopause and risk for Alzheimer's disease. Given that hormonal effects on cognition have been observed in the general population, particularly in areas such as visuospatial processing, and individuals with Down's syndrome (DS) have been reported to be hormonally and reproductively atypical, we analysed our data to allow for the possibility of an aetiology-specific profile of sex differences for these adults.Methods The WISC-R subtests were administered in a longitudinal study, as part of a more comprehensive test battery, at least twice within 7 years. Participants were 18 females with ID without DS [age at first test time (time I): mean = 40.5; IQ: mean = 59.3], 10 males with ID without DS (age at time I: mean = 42.4; IQ: mean = 59.4), 21 females with DS (age at time I: mean = 37.9, IQ: mean = 51.6), and 21 males with DS (age at time I: mean = 40.3; IQ: mean = 54.3). All participants were in the mild to moderate range of ID and were displaying no changes suggestive of early dementia.Results Females, regardless of actiology of ID, exhibited a robust superiority on the coding subtest, which parallels the widely reported difference among adults in the general population. Additionally, there was a decline in overall performance during the 7-year study interval, particularly on the verbal sub-scale subtests, but there was no evidence of sex-differentiated decline. There were also marginal sex by aetiology interactions on the object assembly and block design subtests, suggesting that males with unspecified ID might perform better than their female peers, but among adults with DS, females might do better than males.Conclusions This study supports the presence of cognitive sex differences in the population with ID as indicated by female superiority on the WISC-R coding subtest. Extending this observation to adults with ID has implications for explanations of female advantage on this task, which now have to account for its presence among individuals with a broader range of intellectual capabilities, more atypical developmental histories and more varied genotypes than previously considered. Trends towards sex by aetiology interactions on the two visuoconstructive subtests, while marginal, were sufficient to warrant continued consideration of the idea of a distinct profile of sex differences for adults with DS and to justify looking at the effects of sex separately within different aetiologies of ID.