About the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA) Sample
In 1975-1977, 267 women pregnant with their first child and living below the poverty line were recruited from the Minneapolis Department of Public Health and Hennepin County General Hospital in their third trimester of pregnancy. As the study was not originally conceived as a long-term longitudinal study, there were limited efforts made to track down individuals who moved in the first two years of the study, particularly those who moved out of state.75% (n=164) of the 221 individuals that completed measures of early childhood stress and maternal sensitivity also completed the 32 year assessment and were included in the analyses in this paper.
Although all participants were born below the poverty line, the mean levels of SES and variability in SES increased substantially from early infancy to adolescence for our sample. For example, a 10-point average increase in Duncan SEI scores occurred between the prenatal period and age 16 (prenatal SEI range: 0.00-82.50,M= 19.35,SD= 10.65; age 16 SEI range: 10.00-88.30,M= 29.79,SD= 15.71). Duncan SEI scores range from 0 to 100, with the highest prestige jobs (e.g., lawyers, physicians, actuaries, dentists, and professors) receiving scores above 80atthe time when our sample was scored (Stevens & Featherman, 1981). Occupations with SEI scores similar to the our sample’s prenatal average include buyers/shippers, sales/billing clerks, cashiers, hair dressers, mail carriers, boilermakers, air conditioning and heat mechanics, and sheet metal workers. SEI scores similar to the age 16 average reflect occupations such as building, farm, and restaurant managers, receptionists, tool and die makers, dental assistants, airline attendants, and policemen (Stevens & Featherman, 1981). Thus, there was a clear upward mobility trend from infancy to adolescence within our sample, and the shift in SEI category usually occurred before adolescence. For example, although most household heads were categorized as “unemployed” prenatally, the modal SEI category by grade 6 was clerical.
Our analyses utilize life stress and maternal sensitivity assessments from throughout our participants’ lifetimes. Participants were included in the analyses if they completed the 32 yearr assessment, completed at least one life stress assessment within a life stage, and completed at least one maternal sensitivity assessment. Most participants who completed the 32 yearr assessment had nearly complete data for all assessments.