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Reporting of Demographic Variables in Neuropsychological Research: An Update of O’Bryant et al.’s Trends in the Current Literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2020

Luis D. Medina Open the ORCID record for Luis D. Medina [Opens in a new window] ,
Stephanie Torres ,
Anthony Gioia ,
Andrea Ochoa Lopez ,
James Wang  and
Paul T. Cirino
Luis D. Medina*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Stephanie Torres
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Anthony Gioia
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Andrea Ochoa Lopez
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
James Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Paul T. Cirino
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Luis D. Medina, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, 3695 Cullen Blvd., Room 126 Heyne, Houston, TX77204-5022, USA. Tel.: +1 713 743 9318. Email: LDMedina2@uh.edu
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Abstract

Objective:

Demographic trends and the globalization of neuropsychology have led to a push toward inclusivity and diversity in neuropsychological research in order to maintain relevance in the healthcare marketplace. However, in a review of neuropsychological journals, O’Bryant et al. found systematic under-reporting of sample characteristics vital for understanding the generalizability of research findings. We sought to update and expand the findings reported by O’Bryant et al.

Method:

We evaluated 1648 journal articles published between 2016 and 2019 from 7 neuropsychological journals. Of these, 1277 were original research or secondary analyses and were examined further. Articles were coded for reporting of age, sex/gender, years of education, ethnicity/race, socioeconomic status (SES), language, and acculturation. Additionally, we recorded information related to sample size, country, and whether the article focused on a pediatric or adult sample.

Results:

Key variables such as age and sex/gender (both over 95%) as well as education (71%) were frequently reported. Language (20%) and race/ethnicity (36%) were modestly reported, and SES (13%), and acculturation (<1%) were more rarely reported. SES was more commonly reported in pediatric than adult samples, and the opposite was true for education. There were differences between the present results and those of O’Bryant et al., though the same general trends remained.

Conclusions:

Reporting of demographic data in neuropsychological research appears to be slowly changing toward greater comprehensiveness, though clearly more work is needed. Greater systematic reporting of such data is likely to be beneficial for the generalizability and contextualization of neurocognitive function.

Keywords

Sample sizeEthnic groupsLanguageAcculturationSocial class
Type
Critical Review
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , May 2021 , pp. 497 - 507
Copyright
Copyright © INS. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020

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