Demographics (Adult)🔗

When using HBCD data, all data users must agree to responsible use as described in the DUC. When conceptualizing studies, analyzing data, and communicating findings from studies that use variables such as race, ethnicity, country of origin, and socioeconomic data, it is critical to consider strategies to avoid stigmatization of any groups and perpetuating harmful biases.

Race and ethnicity are collected as a part of the HBCD protocol to reflect social experiences (i.e., representing social constructs), and should not be conceptualized as biological, natural, intrinsic, or fixed categories of people. In addition, researchers sometimes use race and/or ethnicity variables as proxies for unmeasured social experiences or environmental exposures. HBCD measures a wide variety of social experiences and environmental exposures. In analyzing HBCD data, race/ethnicity should not be used as a proxy for measured variables.

Some participants reported challenges in answering certain questions, such as those related to race and ethnicity (e.g. options did not capture how they choose to identify their child).

Some variables do not contain any data in the current data release (e.g., household roster response options allowed for more household members than were reported by the respondents who completed V04 or V06 to date). These variables are currently being retained, as their relevance may change as data collection proceeds.

Some variables in this release have small cell sizes (between 1 and ten people per cell). As a condition of using these data, specified in the DUC, you agree not to identify any individual from whom data was obtained and not to identify their relatives. You agree to a minimum cell threshold of 10 in any public reporting of the data (publications or presentations).

There are several items that Alternate Caregivers receive with branching logic; please consult the following resources for each questionnaire to see question flow and data dictionaries for information on skip patterns. Topics with branching logic include: Household roster, Nativity, Jobs/work environment (Zachek et al., 2019), and items on other biological parent with opt-in responses, e.g.:

Below are alterations made to demographic constructs to tailor it to the HBCD Study. The modifications were made to reduce bias and capture a more inclusive and accurate breadth of demographic information, e.g., by correcting for embedded assumptions of heteronormative nuclear-family structures.

• Marital & Relationship Status alterations to reduce heteronormative bias: Combine "Divorced/Separated", "Never Married" replaced by "Single," and "Member of an Unmarried Couple" replaced by "Partnered"
• Primary Residence destigmatization of living situations: Inclusion of options for individuals in treatment facilities, shelters, or unhoused.
• Household Roster alteration to reduce nuclear family assumptions: expansion of family/caregiver roles
• Race/Ethnicity and Others Describe You: Inclusion of racial and ethnic categories aligned with proposed OMB recommendations using a combined race and ethnicity variable with 7 response options (Federal Register 2023). Participant select all that apply.
• Income: Alteration of household income brackets.