Smaller Hippocampal Volume among Black and Latinx Youth Living in High-Stigma Contexts

ABSTRACT Background To determine whether being raised in a stigmatizing context influences neurodevelopment in children. Methods We drew data from one of the first national, multi-site neuroimaging studies with substantial variability in sociopolitical contexts: the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study (N=11,534; M =9.9 years). We measured structural stigma surrounding gender, race, and Latinx ethnicity using objective state-level indicators of social policies and prejudicial attitudes and individual-level experiences of perceived discrimination, and examined associations with two neural markers: hippocampal volume and amygdala reactivity to threat. Results In a pre-registered analysis, we find that Black ( B =−57.27, p =0.025) and Latinx ( B =−41.02, p =0.037) youths raised in higher-stigma environments have smaller hippocampal volume than youths raised in low-stigma contexts, controlling for demographics and family socioeconomic status. This association was marginal among girls ( p =0.082). The magnitude of the observed difference in hippocampal volume between high and low structural stigma contexts was equivalent to a $20,000 difference in annual family income. Stigmatizing environments were unrelated to hippocampal volume in non-stigmatized youth, providing evidence of specificity. Perceived discrimination was unrelated to hippocampal volume among any of the stigmatized groups. No associations between individual or structural forms of stigma and amygdala reactivity to threat were observed in the stigmatized groups. Conclusions We provide novel evidence that an objective measure of stigma at the contextual level (structural stigma) may have a stronger influence on neurodevelopment than subjective perceptions of stigma measured at the individual level, suggesting that contextual approaches may yield new insights into neurodevelopment.