Toy choices of 3‐ to 10‐year‐old children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and of their unaffected siblings were assessed. Also assessed was parental encouragement of sex‐typed toy play. Girls with CAH displayed more male‐typical toy choices than did their unaffected sisters, whereas boys with and without CAH did not differ. Mothers and fathers encouraged sex‐typical toy play in children with and without CAH. However, girls with CAH received more positive feedback for play with girls' toys than did unaffected girls. Data show that increased male‐typical toy play by girls with CAH cannot be explained by parental encouragement of male‐typical toy play. Although parents encourage sex‐appropriate behavior, their encouragement appears to be insufficient to override the interest of girls with CAH in cross‐sexed toys.

This study identified deficits in executive functioning in pre-adolescent preterms and modeled their role, along with processing speed, in explaining preterm/full-term differences in reading and mathematics. Preterms (< 1750 g) showed deficits at 11 years on a battery of tasks tapping the three basic executive functions identified by Miyake - updating/working memory, inhibition, and shifting. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that these executive functions, though correlated, were distinct from one another and from processing speed, which later proved to account for much of the intercorrelation among executive functions. In the best-fitting structural equation model, the negative effects of prematurity on achievement were completely mediated by the three executive functions and speed in a cascade of effects: prematurity → slower processing speed → poorer executive functioning (working memory) → lower achievement in math and reading.