Considerations When Accounting for Race and Ethnicity in Studies of Poverty and Neurodevelopment.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Poverty and systemic racism are intertwined. Children of marginalized racial and ethnic identities experience higher levels of poverty and adverse psychiatric outcomes. Thus, in models of poverty and neurodevelopment, race and ethnicity, as proxies for exposure to systemic disadvantage, are regularly considered confounders. Recently, however, some researchers have claimed that using race and ethnicity as confounders is statistically dubious, and potentially socially damaging. Instead, they argue for the use of variables measuring other social determinants of health (SDoH). We explore this approach herein.

Method

Data are from 7,836 children 10 years of age in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study). We fit mixed regression models for the assoc

SUBMITTER: Semanaz C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12354268 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature