How should race be best considered in understanding brain-behavior relationships? Implications for understanding onset of engagement in addictive behaviors and subsequent problems

Developmental onset has been linked to addictive problems and severity, including for behavioral addictions like gambling disorder. Individual differences associated with race have been linked to addictive behaviors and disorders in complex manners. Race is understood as a multidimensional construct encompassing biological and social influences. This raises questions about how race should be conceptualized and modeled in brain-behavior relationship studies relevant to addictive behaviors and disorders. Here, we consider two recent publications involving early initiation of substance use (EISU). They derive potentially different conclusions, perhaps in part relating to how race and ethnicity were considered in analyses. Implications for behavioral addictions are explored.