P.1.e.037 Triggering vital alarms by administration of 7% CO 2 in panic disorder patients and healthy controls: pilot data

Abstract

Sex differences on the WISC-R (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised) are examined in a sample of 1258 11 year olds in Mauritius. Boys obtained a significantly higher Full Scale IQ by 5.8 IQ points. Boys obtained a higher Performance IQ by 6.5 IQ points and a higher Verbal IQ by 1.0 IQ points. On the subtests, girls obtained a significantly higher mean on Coding while boys obtained significantly higher means on Similarities, Picture Completion, Block Design, Object Assembly and Mazes. There was no significant sex difference on Digit Span. Two methods were adopted for determining whether boys had an advantage on Spearman's g. First, calculated from the first principal component of a principal components analysis, boys had an advantage on Spearman's g of 6.15 IQ points. Second, using the method of entering the sex difference on each of the subtests as point-biserial correlations, including these in the full matrix of subtest correlations for factor analysis and examining the factor loading of sex on g produced a correlation between sex and g of .224, the equivalent of a sex difference of 6.9 IQ points. Thus the sex difference on the Full Scale IQ was found to be a good approximate measure of the difference in g. The pattern of sex differences in Mauritius is compared with that in eight other countries and found to be generally similar, although the boys' advantage is greater in Mauritius than elsewhere. The variance in boys is slightly greater than in girls, but is only significant for Block Design.