Representation of U.S. Black Americans in neuropsychology research: How well do our reporting practices show that Black lives matter?

Objective: Black American individuals comprise about 13% of the population in the United States (U.S.). It is estimated by 2045, approximately 50% of U.S. residents will belong to an ethnic minority group underscoring the importance of the provision of culturally competent services. The present study provides a critical/systematic review of the literature to examine the representation of Black Americans in recent neuropsychological research in U.S. neuropsychology journals. We examined the representation of U.S. Black American individuals across journals, year of study, and by study sample.
Method: We evaluated 1,151 journal articles published in 4 neuropsychology journals published in 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2019. Articles were coded for reporting of age, sex/gender, years of education, ethnicity/race, and if race was a focus of the study. We also recorded sample size and type of sample.
Results: Out of the 397 articles meeting inclusion criteria, 37.5% did not report ethnic or racial demographic information. Additionally, 96% of the articles were not racially/ethnically focused. Black participants comprised 10.7% of participants in articles that reported race/ethnicity. The proportion of Black participants increased by 3.7% between 2011 and 2019.
Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the underrepresentation of U.S. Black Americans in neuropsychological research over the targeted years. This highlights our shortcomings as a field in demonstrating the importance of including Black Americans in research.