Page Last Updated: May 15, 2026

Basic Demographics Information🔗

Basic Demographics (sed_basic_demographics) is a derived measure with information computed from the following sources:

  • Administrative screening records collected by HBCD Study staff, as reported by the birth parent, during the enrolment/screening process (e.g. the age and race/ethnicity of the pregnant study participant)
  • Demographics instruments (Social & Environmental Determinants), including Adult (sed_bm_demo) and Child (sed_ch_demo)

Basic Demographics includes global, visit-agnostic variables that do not change over time and should be consistent across all visits for the adult/caregiver and beginning at Visit 2 for the child (post-birth). Note that if only V01 data for a given adult participant is included in the release (due to ongoing enrollment, participant withdrawal, etc.), then items about their child will be missing, as the child is not born until after the V01 visit.

Responsible Use Warning ▸

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/ethnicity variables as a proxy 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.

Please review the Known Issues & Pending Updates page for updates that may affect data use.

V02+ = Child-specific, available Visit 2 onward (post-birth)

Age Variables🔗

Construct Variable Name Description
Maternal Age at V01 mother_age_v01
  • Birth parent's age in years (2 decimal places) at V01 visit
  • Calculated by dividing the number of whole months (rounded down) by 12
  • Derived from administrative records
Maternal Age at Delivery mother_age_delivery
  • Birth parent's age in years (2 decimal places) at time of their child's delivery
  • Calculated by dividing the number of whole months (rounded down) by 12
  • Derived from administrative records
Gestational Age at Delivery V02+ gestational_age_delivery
  • Age of child at delivery
  • Calculated as: total elapsed weeks (rounded down) between LMPFirst day of the birth parent's last menstrual period and child's DOB
  • Derived from administrative records

Sex & Other Variables🔗

Construct Variable Name Description / Details
Child sex   V02+ sex Derived from administrative records.
Mother education rc_mother_education Derived from sed_bm_demo_edu_001 (Demographics) at V01
Total household income rc_mother_income Derived from sed_bm_demo_income_002 (Demographics) at V01
Recruitment site recruitment_site De-identified site ID derived from administrative records.

Race & Ethnicity Variables🔗

Race and ethnicity variables are either computed from administrative records collected during screening using the American Community Survey (ACS), or a single All of Us (AOU) race and ethnicity item collected as part of the Demographics instrument.

ACS-Derived Variables🔗

Race and ethnicity variables computed from administrative records collected during screening using the ACS.

Construct Variable Name Description
Child ethnicity   V02+ child_ethnicity Standard ACS ethnicity item
Child race   V02+ child_race Standard ACS race item
Child race & ethnicity– multiracial aggregation by ethnicity   V02+ child_ethnoracial_
acs_by_multi_ethnicity		 Derived from ACS race/ethnicity screening responses, with multiracial individuals subcategorized by ethnicity - see ACS Combined Race & Ethnicity Logic.
Mother ethnicity screen_mother_ethnicity Standard ACS ethnicity item.
Mother race screen_mother_race Sandard ACS race item.
Mother race & ethnicity
– multiracial aggregation by ethnicity		 screen_mother_ethnoracial_
acs_by_multi_ethnicity		 Derived from ACS race/ethnicity screening responses, with multiracial individuals subcategorized by ethnicity - see ACS Combined Race & Ethnicity Logic.
Mother race & ethnicity
– multiracial aggregation by race		 screen_mother_ethnoracial_
acs_by_multi_race		 Derived from ACS race/ethnicity screening responses, with multiracial individuals subcategorized by race - see ACS Combined Race & Ethnicity Logic.
Mother race indicator
variables (0–5)		 screen_mother_race_
multi___{0–5}		 Indicator variables from ACS race item:
0 = White
1 = Black or African American
2 = American Indian or Alaska Native
3 = Asian
4 = Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
5 = Other race
ACS Combined Race & Ethnicity Logic ▸

ACS combined variables are constructed from ACS race and ethnicity screening items following current federal standards:

  • Participants who identify as Hispanic or Latino under ethnicity are categorized as Hispanic regardless of race.
  • Individuals selecting more than one race are categorized as Multiracial and subcategorized by ethnicity and race (*_ethnoracial_acs_by_multi_<ethnicity/race>):
    • By ethnicity: based on Hispanic identity as Multiracial (Hispanic) or Multiracial (non-Hispanic)
    • By race: based on Black/African American identity as Multiracial (Black) or Multiracial (non-Black)

Value Labels for Child/Mother ACS Race, Ethnicity, & Combined Race & Ethnicity* Variables:

* Note: combined variables for the Child currently only include multiracial aggregation by ethnicity.
Value Ethnicity Race Race & ethnicity– multiracial aggregation by ethnicity/race
0 Hispanic White Hispanic
1 Non-Hispanic Black or African American White (non-Hispanic)
2 Unknown American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian/Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)
3   Asian Black (non-Hispanic)
4   Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander By ethnicity: Multiracial (Hispanic);
By race: Multiracial (Black)
5   Two or More Races By ethnicity: Multiracial (non-Hispanic);
By race: Multiracial (non-Black)
6   Other race Other (non-Hispanic)
7   Unknown Unknown

AOU-Derived Variables🔗

Computed from a single All of Us (AOU) race and ethnicity item collected as part of the Demographics instrument.

Construct Variable Name Description / Details
Mother race & ethnicity rc_mother_ethnoracial_
aou_race_ethnicity		 Derived from the single All of Us (AOU) race and ethnicity item, scored following OMB standards: Anyone identifying as Hispanic/Latino (alone or with another group) is categorized as Hispanic/Latino; all others are non-Hispanic.
Mother race indicator
variables (0–7)		 rc_mother_race___{0–7} Indicator variables for AOU combined race/ethnicity item:
0 = American Indian or Alaska Native
1 = Asian
2 = Black, African American, or African
3 = Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish
4 = Middle Eastern or North African
5 = Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
6 = White
7 = None of these fully describe me