We have published the following manuscript on sex differences in adolescent interpretation bias. In this study, male and female adolescents (aged 11-15 years) were presented with hypothetical scenarios and were asked whether specific interpretations came to mind. We found that girls were more likely than boys to bring negative interpretations to mind when presented with ambiguous scenarios, and both sexes were less likely to bring positive interpretations to mind when confronted with social, rather than non-social, scenarios. These results have potential implications for the emergence of sex differences in mood disorders during adolescence and support the hypothesis that social scenarios are a specific source of anxiety in this age group.
Gluck, R., Lynn, D. A., Dritschel, B. and Brown, G. R. 2014. Sex differences in interpretation bias in adolescents. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 32: 116-122. DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12030