A study has found that baby boys are more vulnerable to stress than their female counterparts
Dr Allan Schore, a clinical psychologist from UCLA claims baby boys are more vulnerable than we think and that it's something parents need to be aware of from the word go.
In “All Our Sons: The Developmental Neurobiology and Neuroendocrinology of Boys at Risk,” which appears in the
Infant Mental Health Journal, Dr. Schore explains the major differences between male and female brain development, even in the earliest stages of life.
In baby boys, the right area of the brain develops at a slower rate than baby girls, and, as well as this, boys seem to have less self-regulating stress hormones than baby girls (even in utero). This, according to Schore, means they are more vulnerable to the effects of environmental, physical, and social stressors.
Girls, on the other hand, seem to be born with more resilience to these stressors — as if we didn't know who tough we are, ladies!
The problem?
Dr. Schore believes that these vulnerabilities in baby boys are what make them more susceptible to neuropsychiatric conditions that appear early in life like early onset schizophrenia, and attention deficit disorder. Interestingly, girls seem to be more vulnerable to disorders that appear later in life. As well as this, Dr. Schore points out that baby boys are also more likely to show frustration than baby girls at six months old, and at 12 months, baby boys show more intense reactions to negative stimuli.
Schore advises parents to be extra responsive to their baby boys' needs, and be unafraid of showing both affection and attachment. “In light of the male infant’s slower brain maturation,” says Dr. Schore, “the secure mother’s attachment-regulating function as a sensitively responsive, interactive affect regulator of his immature right brain in the first year is essential to optimal male socioemotional development.”
So pile on the TLC. Cuddle him as much as you freakin' feel like. Pick him up when he cries. Let him sleep in your bed if he (and you) wants to. Cover him from head to toe with kisses.
And never tell him to “man up” or that “boys don’t cry” or any other absurd thing no one should ever actually say to a child.
