Adolescent health and the intersectionality of ethnicity/race, sex, and sexual orientation: A national probability sample from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study.

Although children with marginalized sociodemographic characteristics are exposed to increased health risk and disparities, there is a paucity of population-based research on health status of children occupying multiple social marginalities. The present study investigated implications of children's intersectional sociodemographic characteristics on health risk indicators. In this longitudinal cohort study, we used longitudinal data from the ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. The study used a population-based sample of 9- to 10-year-old children attending private and public schools in 21 U.S.-based study sites between 2016 and 2018. In the present analytic sample of 9,854 children and adolescents, eight social strata groups were identified based on children's ethnicity/race, assigned sex at birth, and sexual orientation. Five health risk indicators were included in the study: depressed mood, suicidal ideation, self-injurious behaviors, alcohol sipping, and overweight status. Results showed that compared to White heterosexual boys (referent group), sexual minority (SM) children including White and ethnic/racial minority, boys and girls were at greater risk of having depressed mood, self-injurious behavior, and suicidal ideation. White SM children, including boys and girls, were also at greater risk of sipping alcohol, whereas heterosexual ethnically/racially minoritized children, including boys and girls, were at less risk of sipping alcohol. Although no change was found in overweight status over time across social groups, children with marginalized social categories were more likely to report being overweight. Intersectional marginality accounted for an increased health risk and disparities among children from marginalized sociodemographic background. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).