Neuropsychological and Early Environmental Correlates of Sex Differences in Crime

Abstract

Results of recent research suggest that longitudinal influences on sex differences in verbal and spatial abilities, and delinquent behavior, may be similar. The present study examined biological, environmental, and psychological variables collected from birth through age 17 on a sample of subjects who participated in the Philadelphia Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP). Findings supported in part past research suggesting that environmental relationships with intellectual ability and delinquency are strongest for males, whereas biological relationships are somewhat more important for females. Socioeconomic factors were among the strongest predictors of delinquency for both sexes, however. In turn, biological and environmental influences on verbal and spatial abilities and their relationships with later achievement were different between the sexes. Results are discussed in terms of possible sex differences in the development of the left and right cerebral hemispheres, as well as in the vulnerability to environmental influences.