Fig. 2

Sex and gender influence associations between brain, behavior, and risk and protective factors. This simplified illustration highlights the complex relationships that exist between brain, behavior, and risk and protective factors and demonstrates how sex and gender may influence those relationships. Sex effects can include influences of hormones, chromosomes, and the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis while gender effects can include the influences of societal norms, gender identity, and stereotypes. Moreover, individual experiences in day-to-day life are influenced by both sex and gender effects. Collectively, these sex and gender effects can influence brain, behavior (in terms of both mental wellbeing and psychopathology), and risk/protective factors, as well as the relationships between then. Moreover, risk/protective factors can be context-dependent and dynamic