Mental Rotation in American Children: Diminished Returns of Parental Education in Black Families

Background: While parental education and family socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with an increase in children’s cognitive functioning, and less is known about racial variation in these effects. Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) suggest that, under racism and social stratification, family SES and particularly parental education show weaker effects on children’s tangible outcomes for marginalized, racialized, and minoritized families, particularly Blacks, compared to Whites. Aim: We conducted this study to compare the effect of parental education on children’s mental rotation abilities, as an important aspect of cognitive function, by race. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 11,135 9–10-year-old American children. Data came from baseline of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The independent variable was parental education. The dependent variable, mental rotation, was measured by the Little Man Task. Ethnicity, gender, age, marital status, and household income were the covariates. Results: Parental education was positively associated with mental rotation. However, parental education showed a weaker association with mental rotation in Black than in White families. This was documented by a significant interaction between race and parental education on children’s efficiency score. Conclusion: Parental education shows a weaker correlation with mental rotation of Black rather than White children, which is probably because of racism, social stratification, and discrimination. This finding is in line with the MDRs phenomenon and suggests that marginalization and racism may interfere with the influences of parental assets and resources and Black American children’s development.

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Age-Related Decline in Children’s Reward Sensitivity: Blacks’ Diminished Returns

Research in Health Science ◽

10.22158/rhs.v5n3p112 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. p112 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shervin Assari

Keyword(s):

Racial Differences ◽

Parental Education ◽

Black Children ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Reward Sensitivity ◽

Behavioral Approach ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

White Children ◽

Age Related ◽

American Children

Background: It is important to study the correlates of reward sensitivity since it predicts high-risk behaviors. While ageing reduces children’s reward sensitivity and its associated risk taking, there is more to find out about racial differences in regard to the effect of age on reward sensitivity. Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) suggest that resources and assets show weaker effects on Black children than White children. Aim: We compared White children to Black children as for the effects of age on reward sensitivity. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 10533 American children who participated in the baseline of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The independent variable was age, while the dependent variable was reward sensitivity as captured by the behavioral approach/behavioral avoidance system (BAS-BIS). Gender, parental education, marital status, parental education, and household income were the covariates. Results: Higher age was associated with less reward sensitivity. A significant interaction was found between race and age when it comes to children’s reward sensitivity. It suggested that age is associated with a smaller gain in terms of reduced reward sensitivity in Black children than White children. Conclusion: Age is more likely to reduce reward sensitivity in White children than Black children. This finding is in line with MDRs, and may be due to social racism, segregation, stratification, and discrimination.

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Race, Ethnicity, Family Socioeconomic Status, and Children’s Hippocampus Volume

Research in Health Science ◽

10.22158/rhs.v5n4p25 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. p25

Author(s):

Shervin Assari

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Ethnic Group ◽

Parental Education ◽

Family Socioeconomic Status ◽

White Families ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

American Children ◽

Using Data ◽

Hippocampus Volume ◽

Family Ses

Introduction: The hippocampus has a significant role in memory, learning, and cognition. Although hippocampal size is highly susceptible to family socioeconomic status (SES) and associated stress, very little is known on racial and ethnic group differences in the effects of SES indicators on hippocampus volume among American children. Purpose: This study explored the multiplicative effects of race, ethnicity, and family SES on hippocampus volume among American children. Methods: Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD), we analyzed the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data of 9390 9-10 years old children. The main outcome was hippocampus volume. The predictor was parental education. Subjective family SES was the independent variable. Age, sex, and marital status were the covariates. Racial and ethnic group membership were the moderators. To analyze the data, we used regression models. Results: High subjective family SES was associated with larger hippocampus volume. This effect was significantly larger for Whites than Black families. Conclusions: The effect of subjective family SES on children’s hippocampus volume is weaker in Black than White families.

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Diminished Association between Parental Education and Parahippocampal Cortical Thickness in Pre-Adolescents in the US

Studies in Social Science Research ◽

10.22158/sssr.v2n4p34 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. p34

Author(s):

Mona Darvishi ◽

Mohammed Saqib ◽

Shervin Assari

Keyword(s):

Racial Differences ◽

Cortical Thickness ◽

Household Income ◽

Parental Education ◽

National Sample ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Us ◽

American Children ◽

The Right

Introduction: Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators, such as parental education and household income, are associated with the thickness of various cortical areas. However, less is known about the parahippocampal region. Additionally, more research is required regarding how the correlation between SES indicators and cortical thickness differs among diverse racial groups. Purpose: This study uses a national sample of pre-adolescents ages 9 to 10 years old in the US and was performed with two aims in mind. First, to investigate the correlations between two SES indicators, namely parental education and household income, and parahippocampal cortical thickness. Second, to explore racial differences in these associations. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study to analyze the Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (sMRI) data of 9,849 US pre-adolescents between the ages of 9 and 10 years old. The main outcomes were parahippocampal cortical thickness separately calculated for the right and the left hemispheres using sMRI. The independent variables were parental education and household income, which were both treated as nominal variables. Age, sex, ethnicity, and family structure were the covariates, and race was the moderator. Mixed-effects regression models were used for data analysis with and without interaction terms. Results: High income positively associated with right and left parahippocampal cortical thickness in the fully adjusted models. Race showed a statistically significant interaction with parental education on children’s parahippocampal cortical thickness, suggesting that the correlations between parental education with the right and left parahippocampal cortical thickness were significantly larger for White than Black and other/mixed race pre-adolescents. No interaction was found for household income and race. Conclusions: The association between parental education and pre-adolescents parahippocampal cortical thickness may be weaker in Black than in White American children. Consistent with the findings of Marginalization-related Diminished Returns (MDRs), parental education shows weaker links for some brain indicators, such as parahippocampal cortical thickness, in Black and other racial and minority children when compared to White children.

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Parental Education Ain’t Enough: A Study of Race (Racism), Parental Education, and Children’s Thalamus Volume

Journal of Education and Culture Studies ◽

10.22158/jecs.v5n1p1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. p1

Author(s):

Shervin Assari ◽

Tommy J. Curry

Keyword(s):

Racial Differences ◽

Social Stratification ◽

Parental Education ◽

Economic Resources ◽

Intracranial Volume ◽

White Children ◽

Left Thalamus ◽

Independent Variable ◽

American Children ◽

Using Data

Introduction. The thalamus is the hub of the brain and has a significant role in various brain activities. Purpose. This study explored racial differences in the association between parental education and thalamus volume among American children. Methods. Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD), we analyzed the structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (sMRI) data of 11141 9-10 years old children. The main outcome was the thalamus volume. The independent variable was parental education. Age, sex, ethnicity, family marital status, and intracranial volume were the covariates. Race was the moderator. To analyze the data, we used mixed-effects regression models. Results. In race-stratified models, high parental education was associated with smaller thalamus volume in White but not Black children. In the pooled sample, significant interactions were found between race and parental education suggesting that the effect of parental education on left thalamus volume is significantly smaller for Blacks and mixed/other race children than White children. Conclusions. The effect of parental education on children’s thalamus volume seems to be weaker for Black and other/mixed-race children than their White counterparts. This finding is in support of Minorites’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) that suggest due to social stratification and racism, economic resources have weaker than expected effects in minority populations.

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Parental Education and Children’s Sleep Problems: Minorities’ Diminished Returns

International journal of epidemiologic research ◽

10.34172/ijer.2021.06 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 31-39

Author(s):

Shervin Assari

Keyword(s):

Parental Education ◽

Sleep Problems ◽

Continuous Variable ◽

Latino Families ◽

Inverse Association ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

White Families ◽

American Children ◽

Children’S Sleep ◽

Black And Latino

Background and aims: While increased parental education reduces children’s sleep problems, less is known about racial variation in such protection. According to Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) theory, economic resources such as parental education show weaker health effects for minority groups such as Blacks and Latinos than non-Latino Whites, which is due to racism and social stratification. In this study, we investigated the association between parental education and children’s sleep problems, as a proxy of sleep problems, by race. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 11718 American children aged 9-10. All participants were recruited to the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The independent variable was parental education, a five-level nominal variable. The dependent variable – sleep problems, was a continuous variable. Race/ethnicity was the effect modifier. Age, sex, and marital status were the covariates. Mixed-effects regression models were used for data analysis. Results: Parental education was associated with children’s sleep problems. However, there was a weaker inverse association seen in non-Latino Black and Latino families compared to non-Latino White families. This was documented by a significant statistical interaction between race and ethnicity and parental education on children’s sleep problems. Conclusion: Diminished protective effect of parental education on children’s sleep problems for non-Latino Black and Latino families compared to non-Latino White families is similar to the MDRs in other domains. Worse than expected sleep may contribute to higher-than-expected health risks of middle-class Black and Latino children.

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Postpartum Depression and Its Associated Factors among Women in Bandar Abbas City

International Electronic Journal of Medicine ◽

10.31661/iejm621 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Author(s):

Arefeh Shahi

Keyword(s):

Postpartum Depression ◽

Associated Factors ◽

Parental Education ◽

Unwanted Pregnancy ◽

Routine Care ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Vulnerable Groups ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Bandar Abbas

Background: Postpartum depression with a different incidence of 40- 45% in different societies, which it has adverse effects on the health of mothers and their child, given the negative effects of maternal depression and its harmful effects on the baby and the quality of family life. So, this study was performed with the aim to determine postpartum depression and its associated factors in Bandar Abbas city. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 after obtaining consent from mothers by the census. A total of 343 mothers was examined for depression who referred to Bandar Abbas health centers in the 2nd and 4th months after childbirth. The data collection tools included demographic information and Postpartum Depression Edinburgh questionnaires. Finally, the statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 22.0) software and data were analyzed using the Independent t-test, Mann Whitney, Chi-square, and Fisher exact tests.Result: Totally, 68 (19.8%) of samples were in the second month and 54 (15.7%) in the fourth month after delivery had postpartum depression. The incidence of depression in the four months was 6.6%. There was a significant difference between depression and income, parental education, father’s use of cigarette and abnormalities of the infant (P <0.001). There was no significant difference between other factors such as gestational age, infant sex, birth weight, unwanted pregnancy, and type of delivery. Conclusion: Regarding the prevalence of this disorder, it seems that postpartum depression screening planning should be considered during child routine care as an essential component, especially for vulnerable groups.

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Time trends of socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent smoking in Okinawa, Japan, 2008–2016: a repeated cross-sectional study

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine ◽

10.1186/s12199-021-00948-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Minoru Takakura ◽

Masaya Miyagi ◽

Akira Kyan

Keyword(s):

Time Trends ◽

Parental Education ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Socioeconomic Inequalities ◽

School Type ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Japanese Adolescents ◽

Index Of Inequality ◽

Over Time

Abstract Background Smoking among Japanese adolescents has decreased noticeably. However, little is known whether the decreasing trend in adolescent smoking can be seen across all socioeconomic status (SES) groups. This study aimed to examine trends in socioeconomic inequalities in smoking among Japanese adolescents between 2008 and 2016. Methods We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study using data from three surveys of high school students in Okinawa, Japan, in 2008, 2012, and 2016. The study participants consisted of 7902 students in grades 10 through 12 (15–18 years). Smoking was assessed as current cigarette use. SES indicators included familial SES (parental education and family structure) and student’s own SES (school type). To evaluate absolute and relative inequalities, prevalence differences (PDs) and ratios (PRs) between low and high SES groups were estimated. The slope index of inequality (SII) and relative index of inequality (RII) were also calculated. Results Smoking prevalence among boys and girls significantly declined from 11.5% and 6.2% in 2008 to 4.7% and 1.9% in 2016, respectively. Similar decreasing trends in smoking were found among most of the SES groups. The PDs and SII for parental education in boys and family structure in girls decreased over time while those for school type persisted among boys and girls. The PRs and RII for school type in boys increased while those for other SES indicators among both sexes remained stable over time. Conclusions Smoking among Japanese adolescents has been declining and time trends of socioeconomic inequalities in smoking varied by absolute and relative measures. Further policies and/or interventions to reduce smoking inequalities should focus on the context of schools, especially in vocational high schools.

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Association between socioeconomic status and dental caries among Chinese preschool children: a cross-sectional national study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042908 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. e042908

Author(s):

Tingting Zhang ◽

Jialan Hong ◽

Xueting Yu ◽

Qiulin Liu ◽

Andi Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Preschool Children ◽

Oral Health ◽

Dental Caries ◽

Household Income ◽

Parental Education ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Index Of Inequality

ObjectivesSocioeconomic inequalities in oral health are often neglected in oral health promotion. This cross-sectional study assessed the association between dental caries and socioeconomic status (SES) among preschool children in China.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingData from the Fourth National Oral Health Survey of China (2015), comprising of 40 360 children aged 3–5 years was used.MethodsDental caries indicators including prevalence of dental caries, dental pain experience and number of decayed, missing and filling teeth (dmft). SES indicators included parental education and household income. The associations between SES and dental caries were analysed by using negative binomial regression or Poisson regression models according to data distribution. Relative and absolute inequalities in dental caries were quantified by using the Relative Index of Inequality (RII) and Slope Index of Inequality (SII), respectively.ResultsThere were significant associations between SES and prevalence of dental caries and dmft (p<0.001). Children from lower educated (RII 1.36, 95% CI 1.3 to 1.43; SII 0.97, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.13) and lower household income (RII 1.17, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.24; SII 0.55, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.75) families had higher dmft than those from well-educated and most affluent families. Relative and absolute inequalities in dental caries were larger in urban areas by household income, and in rural areas by parental education.ConclusionsAssociation between dental caries and SES was demonstrated and socioeconomic inequalities in dental caries existed among Chinese preschool children.

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P20 Parental understanding of concussion in youth rugby is significantly improved by viewing the RFU concussion education video

Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry ◽

10.1136/jnnp-2019-abn.97 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 90 (3) ◽

pp. e31.1-e31

Author(s):

T Samuel ◽

K Aquilina ◽

W Dawes

Keyword(s):

Parental Education ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Educational Video ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Parental Experience ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Composite Scores

ObjectivesTo investigate the current understanding parents have of concussion in their rugby-playing children aged 9–17.DesignCross-sectional studySubjects86 parents from four clubs completed an online questionnaireMethodsAreas covered (1) Parental experience of concussion (2) Rate of viewing of the RFU concussion educational video (RFUCEV), (3) Identification of symptoms of concussion (4) Understanding of the risk of concussion. Each participant was given a composite score, out of 19, based on their performance in symptom identification and true/false questions. Independent-sample two-tailed t-tests were conducted to analyse scores, primarily controlling for viewing of the RFUCEVResultsThere was a significant difference in the scores between the group that had viewed the RFUCEV (n=32, M=14.75, SD=2.55) and those who had not (n=54, M=13.05, SD=2.87); t(84)=2.75, p=0.00721. Additionally, over 25% of parents reported that their child had suffered a concussion, and this was also found to significantly improve the awareness score (p=0.04678)ConclusionsStatistically significant improvement in composite scores after viewing the RFUCEV makes it reasonable to require compulsory parental education prior to signing up a child to play rugby. This would build on the protocol changes made by the RFU in 2014 and further progress the safety of the sport. We suggest the video be improved to emphasise the areas highlighted as inadequately understood, including the increased risk of concussion in under-18s compared to adults.

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Study of Congenital Malformation in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Siriraj Medical Journal ◽

10.33192/smj.2021.79 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 73 (9) ◽

pp. 609-613

Author(s):

Swaranjika Sahoo ◽

Ria Ganguly ◽

Mrutunjay Dash ◽

Antaryami Pradhan ◽

Thambi Gayathri Priya ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Congenital Anomalies ◽

Parental Education ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Functional Abnormality ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Common System ◽

Level Ii ◽

Torch Infection ◽

Rubella Vaccination

Objective: Congenital anomaly is one of the most important causes & being the 5th most common cause of neonatal mortality & morbidity. It may present as a structural or functional abnormality. These defects occur due to defective embryogenesis. Associated factors may be maternal age, maternal TORCH infection, drugs, genetic factors. Antenatal USG reduces the incidence.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in the Pediatric department over 1 year. Diagnosis of all congenital anomalies was done by the concerned pediatrician& pediatric surgeon. Data was collected in the specified format.Results: A total of 10205 cases of age group 1 month to 5 years presented to the paediatric OPD, out of which 193 children were diagnosed as congenital anomalies in 1 year. Males were found to be affected the most. The most common system involved was found to be the genitourinary system (36.78%). The second most common system involved was the gastrointestinal system (33.67%). The least common system involved was the musculoskeletal system.Conclusion: Congenital anomalies are a major cause of neonatal & infantile mortality & morbidity. Routine screening with a level II targeted scan for all the pregnant mothers should be mandatory. Adequate nutrition, parental education & Rubella vaccination of the mother can decrease the prevalence of congenital anomalies to some extend.

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