Examining the Effects of Discrimination on Neural Circuitry and Self-Regulatory Functioning in Adolescence

Duell, Natasha, Cary NC

Investigators

Abstract

This award was provided as part of NSF’s Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) program. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Drs. Eva Telzer and Keely Muscatell at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist in advancing scientific knowledge about associations among racial discrimination, brain development, and self-regulation during adolescence, specifically among youth identifying with marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Additionally, this study investigates family values and school support as protective buffers against the effect of racial discrimination on brain development. The study supported by this award addresses the pressing need within the developmental literature to understand the long-term impact of discrimination on adolescent functioning. The timely and critical societal issue addressed in this study is of broad relevance to scientists, parents, schools, and policymakers. Findings have the potential to identify psychological processes affected by discrimination, cognitive processes that may be targets for interventions aimed at helping adolescents cope with discrimination, and potential mechanisms for social support within the home and the school. Further, this study promotes a greater understanding of the lived experiences of youth from marginalized racial and ethnic groups who are currently underrepresented in research on neurodevelopment. Adolescence is a critical period of development wherein the brain undergoes rapid reorganization and in which life experiences are formative to neurodevelopment. The life experiences of youth from minoritized racial and ethnic backgrounds are underrepresented in neurodevelopmental research, despite the fact that children and adolescents represent the most racially and ethnically diverse age group in the United States population. One salient experience among marginalized youth is racial and ethnic discrimination. Despite this critical issue, the effect of discrimination on neural development and implications for subsequent functioning are not well understood. The awarded study addresses these gaps using longitudinal network analysis and graph theoretic methods to identify associations among racial discrimination, neural connectivity, and self-regulatory functioning among youth of color. Further, the study examines familism and school support as protective buffers against the harmful effects of discrimination. To answer these critical questions, the study uses a subsample of youth from minoritized racial and ethnic groups (Asian, Black, and Latinx; n = 5,705) ages 9-10 years at the first assessment and 11-12 years at the last assessment from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.