Similar but distinct – Effects of different socioeconomic indicators on resting state functional connectivity: Findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study®

Early socioeconomic status (SES) has consistently been associated with child health and cognitive outcomes, in addition to alterations in brain function and connectivity. The goal of the present study was to probe the effects of different facets of SES (parent education, income, and neighborhood disadvantage), that likely represent varying aspects of the environment, on resting state functional connectivity (rsFC). We investigated this question in a large sample of 9475 children (aged 9–10 years) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Specifically, we analyzed the association between household SES (parent education, income-to-needs ratio) and neighborhood disadvantage, and system-level rsFC using within-sample split-half replication. We then tested whether the associations were unique to each SES measure, and whether household SES and neighborhood disadvantage had interactive effects on rsFC. SES measures had both common and distinct effects on rsFC, with sensory-motor systems (e.g., sensorimotor network) and cognitive networks (e.g., front-parietal network) particularly implicated. Further, the association between neighborhood disadvantage and sensorimotor network connectivity was less pronounced in the presence of high income-to-needs. Findings demonstrate that different facets of SES have distinct and interacting effects on rsFC, highlighting the importance of considering different indicators when studying the effects of SES on the brain.