. 2021 May 18;8(5):412.

doi: 10.3390/children8050412.

Parental Educational Attainment, the Superior Temporal Cortical Surface Area, and Reading Ability among American Children: A Test of Marginalization-Related Diminished Returns

Shervin Assari^{1

2

3}, Shanika Boyce^{1

4}, Mohsen Bazargan^{1

3

5}, Alvin Thomas⁶, Ryon J Cobb⁷, Darrell Hudson⁸, Tommy J Curry⁹, Harvey L Nicholson Jr¹⁰, Adolfo G Cuevas^{11

12}, Ritesh Mistry¹³, Tabbye M Chavous^{14

15

16}, Cleopatra H Caldwell^{13

17}, Marc A Zimmerman^{13

18}

Affiliations

¹ Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDRs) Center, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
² Department of Urban Public Health, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
³ Department of Family Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
⁵ Department of Family Medicine, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁶ Human Development and Family Studies Department, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
⁷ Department of Sociology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
⁸ Brown School, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
⁹ Department of Philosophy, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JS, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7330, USA.
¹¹ Psychosocial Determinants of Health (PSDH) Lab, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02155, USA.
¹² Department of Community Health, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02155, USA.
¹³ Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁴ School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁵ National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁷ Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH), University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁸ Prevention Research Center, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.

PMID: 34070118
PMCID: PMC8158386
DOI: 10.3390/children8050412

Parental Educational Attainment, the Superior Temporal Cortical Surface Area, and Reading Ability among American Children: A Test of Marginalization-Related Diminished Returns

Shervin Assari et al. Children (Basel). 2021.

. 2021 May 18;8(5):412.

doi: 10.3390/children8050412.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDRs) Center, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
² Department of Urban Public Health, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
³ Department of Family Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
⁵ Department of Family Medicine, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁶ Human Development and Family Studies Department, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
⁷ Department of Sociology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
⁸ Brown School, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
⁹ Department of Philosophy, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JS, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7330, USA.
¹¹ Psychosocial Determinants of Health (PSDH) Lab, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02155, USA.
¹² Department of Community Health, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02155, USA.
¹³ Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁴ School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁵ National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁷ Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH), University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.
¹⁸ Prevention Research Center, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA.

PMID: 34070118
PMCID: PMC8158386
DOI: 10.3390/children8050412

Abstract

Background: Recent studies have shown that parental educational attainment is associated with a larger superior temporal cortical surface area associated with higher reading ability in children. Simultaneously, the marginalization-related diminished returns (MDRs) framework suggests that, due to structural racism and social stratification, returns of parental education are smaller for black and other racial/ethnic minority children compared to their white counterparts.

Purpose: This study used a large national sample of 9-10-year-old American children to investigate associations between parental educational attainment, the right and left superior temporal cortical surface area, and reading ability across diverse racial/ethnic groups.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis that included 10,817 9-10-year-old children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Parental educational attainment was treated as a five-level categorical variable. Children's right and left superior temporal cortical surface area and reading ability were continuous variables. Race/ethnicity was the moderator. To adjust for the nested nature of the ABCD data, mixed-effects regression models were used to test the associations between parental education, superior temporal cortical surface area, and reading ability overall and by race/ethnicity.

Results: Overall, high parental educational attainment was associated with greater superior temporal cortical surface area and reading ability in children. In the pooled sample, we found statistically significant interactions between race/ethnicity and parental educational attainment on children's right and left superior temporal cortical surface area, suggesting that high parental educational attainment has a smaller boosting effect on children's superior temporal cortical surface area for black than white children. We also found a significant interaction between race and the left superior temporal surface area on reading ability, indicating weaker associations for Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AIAN/NHPI) than white children. We also found interactions between race and parental educational attainment on reading ability, indicating more potent effects for black children than white children.

Conclusion: While parental educational attainment may improve children's superior temporal cortical surface area, promoting reading ability, this effect may be unequal across racial/ethnic groups. To minimize the racial/ethnic gap in children's brain development and school achievement, we need to address societal barriers that diminish parental educational attainment's marginal returns for middle-class minority families. Social and public policies need to go beyond equal access and address structural and societal barriers that hinder middle-class families of color and their children. Future research should test how racism, social stratification, segregation, and discrimination, which shape the daily lives of non-white individuals, take a toll on children's brains and academic development.

Keywords: adolescents; brain development; child; cortical surface; magnetic resonance imaging; population groups; reading; school performance; socioeconomic factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIMH Data Archive or the National Institutes of Health.

Figures

**Figure A1**
(a) Right superior temporal cortical surface area; (b) Left superior temporal cortical surface area.

**Figure A2**
Distributions of the Study Variables and Testing the Model Assumptions.

**Figure A3**
ABCD Enrollment Completion.

**Figure A4**
Association between parental education and children’s right superior temporal cortical surface area. In these figures, X represents children’s right superior temporal cortical surface area and Y represents parental education across racial groups. (a) Overall; (b) by race.

**Figure A5**
Association between parental education and children’s left superior temporal cortical surface area. In these figures, X represents children’s left superior temporal cortical surface area and Y represents parental education across racial groups. (a) Overall; (b) by race.

**Figure A6**
Association between the right superior temporal cortical surface area and children’s reading ability. In these figures, X represents children’s right superior temporal cortical surface area and Y represents children reading scores. (a) Overall; (b) by race.

**Figure A7**
Association between the left superior temporal cortical surface area and parental education children’s reading ability. In these figures, X represents children’s left superior temporal cortical surface area and Y represents children reading scores. (a) Overall; (b) by race.

**Figure A8**
Association between parental education and children’s reading ability. In these figures, X represents children’s reading ability and Y represents parental education across racial groups. (a) Overall; (b) by race.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Parental Educational Attainment, the Superior Temporal Cortical Surface Area, and Reading Ability among American Children: A Test of Marginalization-Related Diminished Returns

Affiliations

Parental Educational Attainment, the Superior Temporal Cortical Surface Area, and Reading Ability among American Children: A Test of Marginalization-Related Diminished Returns

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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