Using latent profile analysis to classify US states into typologies of structural racism

Stephanie Veazie, Elleni M. Hailu and Corinne A. Riddell

Social Science & Medicine, 2025, vol. 366, issue C

Abstract: Structural racism is a fundamental cause of racial health inequities; however, it is a complex construct that is difficult to quantitatively analyze due to its multi-dimensionality. We classified fifty US states into three typologies of structural racism using a latent profile analysis. Five domains of structural racism were included in the analysis: Black-White inequities in educational attainment, employment, homeownership, incarceration, and income. In separate analyses, we specified two, four, and five typologies and describe how states’ groupings changed when different numbers of typologies are used. In the three typology model, twenty-seven states were classified as typology 1, sixteen states as typology 2, and seven states as typology 3. On average, type 3 states included Midwestern states and had the largest inequities in all domains except education while type 2 states included Western and Eastern states and had the largest inequities in education. States were relatively consistent in which other states they were grouped with, regardless of the number of typologies used in the analysis. Latent profile analysis may be useful in identifying underlying typologies of structural racism at the state-level, which can help researchers identify which states have similar characteristics across multiple, inter-related domains.

Keywords: Structural racism; Factor analysis; U.S. states (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625000279
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:366:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625000279

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117698

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().