A comparison of performance outcomes between the Minnesota Rate of Manipulation Test and the Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test

This study examined the performance outcomes between two tests of manual dexterity, the Minnesota Rate of Manipulation Test [1] and the Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test (1981). Even though the tests are constructed differently and are different versions of the Complete Minnesota Dexterity tests, both tests utilize the same instruction manual and the same normative data. The researchers measured 233 random participants at a Midwestern international airport and in the student center at a local university in Indiana. Each participant completed three trials of a subtest on both versions of the test. One sample t-tests on difference scores indicated statistically significant differences on outcomes of both subtest comparisons as well as overall test score differences (p < 0.000). These significantly different outcomes on the two tests illustrate the need to establish separate normative data on the latest version of the test, the Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test.     

An American Dream Unfulfilled: The Limited Mobility of Mexican Americans

Objective . We build on past research regarding immigrant group adaptation by examining the wages of first–, second–, and third–generation Mexican–American men and women and empirically evaluating if past theories of immigrant incorporation apply to the Mexican–American case. Methods . We use the 1989 Latino National Political Study and the 1990/1991 Panel Studies of Income Dynamics and OLS regressions to estimate the effects of generation and human capital on wages. Results . Immigrant men and women report lower wages than their second– and third–generation counterparts, but once human capital controls are added, the wage pattern becomes one of steady decline across generations for men, and stagnation or marginal decline across generations for women. Conclusions . Our results generally contest the applicability of linear assimilation hypotheses to the Mexican–American experience, while lending some credence to the selectivity and immigrant optimism hypotheses. Results also indicate the importance of developing more contextualized immigrant adaptation frameworks.     

Interethnic Contact, Curriculum, and Attitudes in the First Year of College

Since Brown v. Board of Education (1954), social scientists have argued that education is important to change in racial attitudes given opportunities for interethnic contact. Students today are presented, also, with opportunities for interethnic learning through curriculum and extracurricular programming. The importance of contact, curriculum, and residence hall programs for the attitudes of first-year college students from three ethnic groups was examined. Students ( n = 791) completed surveys at the beginning and end of the year. Regressions tested the relationships of these first-year experiences to intergroup attitudes (awareness of ethnic inequality, support for policies addressing ethnic inequality) at the end of the first year, controlling for initial attitudes and background. Contact and curriculum were related to attitudes for European American students .     

Parenting a 6-Year Old Is Not What I Planned in Retirement: Trauma and Stress among Grandparents Due to the Opioid Crisis

ABSTRACT

There is little research about trauma, financial stress, and social service needs emanating from the experience of parenting grandchildren caused by the opioid crisis in the United States. We conducted a qualitative study with 15 grandparents who currently or in the past had custodial care of their grandchildren. We also interviewed nine issue-related stakeholders in Eastern Massachusetts. Specific inquiries centered on events leading up to a change in guardianship, stressors related to legal, financial, and family issues, and system-wide response to the grandparents’ needs. Results indicate that the opioid crisis presents distinct challenges for the grandparent-led families and for the systems that serve the new family arrangement. Crisis triggers a change in guardianship and continues throughout the years. The continued crises stem from events related to the parent’s opioid use disorder (OUD) and from expenses related to raising a young family, especially when the grandchild has adverse childhood experiences. Our analysis shows that systems break down on a number of levels, and the fluidity of custodial arrangements due to parents’ OUD status does not map onto existing support or benefit systems. Policy responses must focus on the immediate and long-term needs of grandparent caretakers, especially since the opioid crisis is likely to continue.