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Building towards an adolescent neural urbanome: Expanding environmental measures using linked external data (LED) in
Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez1, Jared N Schachner2, Ka I Ip3
1Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
|January 9, 2024
Summary
Environmental contexts significantly impact child development. We introduce the "adolescent neural urbanome" framework to analyze these external environments and their effects on youth, especially minoritized groups.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Environmental Health
Background:
- Environmental contexts profoundly influence neural and behavioral development in children and adolescents.
- Geospatial methods in studies like the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study enable environmental context exploration without participant burden.
- Increasing linked databases necessitate a framework for analyzing diverse child and adolescent environments beyond the home.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a framework, the "adolescent neural urbanome," for categorizing and analyzing child and adolescent environmental contexts.
- To identify structural factors in built and natural environments that may create inequalities.
- To explore the downstream effects of these environmental inequalities on historically minoritized groups.
Main Methods:
- Development of the "adolescent neural urbanome" framework.
- Categorization of geocoded information from the ABCD Study using the LED Environment & Policy Working Group data.
- Analysis of relationships between linked environmental measures.
Main Results:
- The "adolescent neural urbanome" framework categorizes diverse external environmental factors.
- Identified potential structural inequalities in children's built and natural environments.
- Highlighted relationships between environmental measures and potential impacts on youth development.
Conclusions:
- The "adolescent neural urbanome" provides a structured approach to understanding complex environmental influences on adolescent development.
- Responsible data use and communication are crucial to prevent harm, particularly to historically minoritized groups.
- This framework facilitates deeper insights into how environmental exposures shape neural and behavioral outcomes in youth.
