Sex Differences in the Adolescent Brain and Body: Findings From the Saguenay Youth Study

This Mini-Review describes sex differences in 66 quantitative characteristics of the brain and body measured in a community-based sample of 1,024 adolescents 12-18 years of age, members of the Saguenay Youth Study. Using an extensive phenotyping protocol, we have obtained measures in a number of domains, including brain structure, cognition, mental health, substance use, body composition, metabolism, cardiovascular reactivity, and life style. For each measure, we provide estimates of effect size (Cohen's d) and sex-specific correlations with age (Pearson R). In total 59 of the 66 characteristics showed sex differences (at a nominal P < 0.05), with small (32), medium-sized (13), and large (11) effects. Some, but not all, of these sex differences increase during adolescence; this appears to be the case mostly for anatomical and physiological measures. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.