Gender differences in early childhood development, as assessed by parental documentation with MONDEY

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Sex, Gender

Abstract

When and how gender differences first emerge in human ontogeny is of great interest to developmental psychologists. Existing meta -analyses suggest that little differences exist below the age of six months, whereas differences on some dimensions (e.g. activity level, vocalization, communication style) seem to increase in magnitude during the second year of life (see e.g. Fausto-Sterling & Lamarre, 2012). Regarding developmental achievements during early toddlerhood (16 to 30 months), parents report girls to show advanced language skills as compared to boys (e.g. Marianovic, Fenkoja, Kranjc, & Bajc, 2008). In general, early verbal and nonverbal communicative skills are assumed to be more advanced in girls than in boys, presumably due to differences in brain maturation (Adani & Cepanec, 2019).

The present study investigates potential gender differences in infancy and early toddlerhood. Parents filled out the caregiver inventory MONDEY (Milestones Of Normal Development in Early Years; Pauen, 2013) for their child. MONDEY contains a description of 111 well-defined behaviours which children typically acquire at some point within the first three years of life. Each milestone refers to one of eight developmental areas (i.e. gross and fine motor development, perception, cognition, language, social skills, emotions, self-regulation). MONDEY shows good psychometric quality (Pauen et al., 2012; Heilig & Pauen, 2012).

MONDEY assessments were provided by N = 1.115 parents or professional caregivers with a higher level of education. Based on earlier studies, we expected to find no gender differences in younger infants aged 0 to 6 months (i.e. Group 1: N = 805; mean age: M = 3.2 months; SD = 1.7; 397 females). Regarding 18 to 24 month old toddlers (i.e. Group 2: N = 223; mean age: M = 21.1 months, SD = 1.9; 112 females), we expected girls to reach higher MONDEY scores on the language or social development scale.

Consistent with our initial hypothesis, no gender differences were found for Group 1 (T (803) = -1.462, p > .05), whereas girls reached higher total MONDEY scores than boys did in Group 2 (T (209) = -2,258, p <.05). Post-hoc analyses revealed that these differences were mainly due to differences on the MONDEY scale “emotional development” (Welch test F (1, 216.25) = 4.29, p <.05). Results will be discussed in terms of the validity of MONDEY as well as potential caregiver biases in monitoring developmental progress in young children.

Authors

• Leyla Kirrstetter, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
  Presenting Author

• Sabina M Pauen, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lena Heilig, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
  Non-Presenting Author