Examining Sex Differences Across the Lifespan on the Mobile Half-Version of the Connors Continuous Performance Test

Concussions exert a massive cost on our economic and healthcare systems. Many of the most commonly employed neurocognitive measures in concussion assessment have been shown to be psychometrically problematic. Additionally, norms are established from largely male populations. The present study investigates the use of a validated and reliable measure of concussion sequelae, the mobile half-version of the Connors Continuous Performance Test 3rd Edition (CCPT-3), on a representative population to study the influence of sex and age on normative values collected at baseline. Baseline data were analyzed from 71,976 participants across a wide range of academic and athletic contexts, as well as healthcare settings. Multiple regressions examined the influence of sex as a function of age in different developmental groups: children, adolescents, young adults, adults, and older adults. Sex effects emerged during childhood, peaked during adolescence, and decreased in adulthood. Females showed better accuracy (fewer commission and omission errors), whereas males had faster response speeds (hit-rate RT). Effect sizes were generally in the small to very small range (sex effect sizes ranged from Cohen’s d = 0.02 to 0.39). The findings highlight the importance of accounting for sex and age in cognitive test performance and underscore the impact of correcting for even small effects when working with large samples.