Sex, gender, and neuropsychological functioning in schizophrenia

Sex and gender represent substantially different concepts. While there are consistent sex differences reported on selected neuropsychological tasks, there is no systematic literature on comparable gender differences. We examined sex and gender effects on seven domains of neuropsychological functioning among 197 schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients and 94 healthy individuals. We found main effects of sex on two neuropsychological domains, main effects of gender on five neuropsychological domains, and no interaction effects on any of the domains. Healthy individuals performed better than individuals with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. Executive functioning was unaffected by sex or gender, supporting its role as a behavioral marker of schizophrenia.