October 2004

Q. Have you ever wondered why boys/men and girls/women think and act so differently?

Parents, teachers, and counselors often observe that girls show more emotion, are able to multi-task sooner, and are less aggressive. Boys are viewed as being more physical, less emotional, more focused, better with directions, and more limited in switching from one task to another. These generalizations are not true for all males or females, and thus are not rigid facts; yet, many of the perceived differences between the sexes are now being demonstrated by imaging studies.

Brain images can be performed under many different circumstances. For example, imaging studies have been done as people feel hunger, feel pain, view pictures, and solve puzzles. New imaging technologies have also allowed researchers to better understand the similarities and differences in the brains of males and female. Recent studies demonstrate that hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain cause males and females to approach their environments very differently during infancy. Three hormones, estrogen, testosterone, and oxytocin, and the neurotransmitter serotonin are implicated in many of the differences. The levels of these chemicals naturally exist in differing proportions between the sexes:

	Estrogen	Testosterone	Oxytocin	Serotonin
Girls	+	-	+	+
Boys	-	+	-	-

The different levels in these substances cause the “stereotypical” behaviors we often observe in males and females. For instance, levels of oxytocin, known as a “bonding” hormone, rise in women before and after birth. Increased testosterone levels in men cause them to be more visual and sexually focused; while increased estrogen makes women more emotional and focused on attachment.

We need to be mindful of gender characteristics in planning helping strategies and treatment interventions. In fact, the newest thoughts about “best practices” involve gender specific groups that engage girls and boys differently. Yet, rather than just focusing on differences, we need to become more aware of both the similarities and the differences across gender to understand how to help our youth and engage them in activities more appropriate to their temperaments. Hopefully, the emerging findings from neurology, chemistry, and brain imaging studies will provide the empirical evidence for what seems to be common sense for many human service workers.

See:

• The resources developed by Flo Hilliard's Woman and Substance Abuse Understanding the Problem
• This is a series of training tapes and a manual used at Hazelton-NY, the Betty Ford Center and Washington and Oregon Department of Public Health.
• Many Voices, One Journey – New training and Therapeutic Video
• Alcoholism and the Family: Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, training manual for elementary and secondary teachers on alcohol and other drug abuse.