Chapters 13 & 14 Physical, Cognitive, Developmental, and Emotion Psych of Early Adulthood

obesity treatment

- Because obesity climbs in early adulthood, treatment for adults should begin as soon as possible. Even moderate weight loss reduces health problems substantially - Most adults who start a weight-loss program return to their original weight, and sometimes to a heavier weight, within 2 years -The following elements promote lasting behavior change A lifestyle change to a nutritious diet lower in calories, plus regular exercise - Training participants to keep an accurate record of food - - intake and body weight - Social support - Teaching problem-solving skills - Extended intervention

Aging at the Level of DNA and Body Cells

- People whose parents had long lives tend to live longer themselves - Rather than inheriting longevity directly, people probably inherit risk and protective factors, which influence their chances of dying earlier or later - One "genetic programming" theory proposes the existence of "aging genes" that control biological changes, such as deterioration of body cells - Telomeres: a special type of DNA located at the end of chromosomes- serving as a "cap" to protect the ends from destruction- that shortens with each cell duplication. Eventually, so little remains that the cells no longer duplicate at all - Telomere shortening acts as a brake against somatic mutations (such as those involves in cancer) which become more likely as cells duplicate - An increase in the number of senescent cells (ones with short telomeres) also contribute to age-related disease, loss of function, and earlier mortality

tobacco and marijuana

- Smoking has declines very slowly, and most of the drop is among college graduates - More men than women smoke, but the gender gap is much smaller today than in the past - Although college students' cigarette smoking has decreased over the past 15 years, their use of other forms of tobacco (e-cigarettes and cigars) and, especially, of marijuana have risen - Because of legalization of recreational marijuana use in some - US states, many young people view marijuana as safe Yet 30 percent of users experience problematic withdrawal symptoms that result in dependency - Compared to marijuana, tobacco use is much more addictive - Cigarette smoking is the single most important preventable cause of death in industrialized nations - One out of three young people who become regular smokers will die from a smoking-related disease, and the vast majority will suffer from at least one serious illness

Current explanations of biological aging at the level of DNA and body cells are of 2 types:

- Those that emphasize the programmed effects of specific genes - Those that emphasize the cumulative effects of random events that damage genetic and cellular material

Prevention and Treatment

A variety of community services, including safe houses, crisis hotlines, support groups, and legal assistance, exist to help women take refuge from abusive partners, but most are underfunded and cannot reach out to everyone in need. - Practically no services are available for victimized men, who are often too embarrassed to come forward. The trauma induced by rape is severe enough that therapy is vital—both individual treatment to reduce anxiety and depression and group sessions where contact with other survivors helps counter isolation and self-blame - Other critical features that foster recovery include: - Routine screening for victimization -- Validation of the experience -- Safety planning

Aging at the Level of DNA and Body Cells pt. 2

According to an alternative, "random events" theory, DNA in body cells is gradually damaged through spontaneous or externally caused mutations - Cell repair and replacement become less efficient - One hypothesized cause of age-related DNA and cellular abnormalities is the release of free radicals: naturally occurring, highly reactive chemicals that form in the presence of oxygen - When oxygen molecules break down within the cell, the reaction strips away an electron, creating a free radical. As it seeks a replacement from its surroundings, it destroys nearby cellular material, increasing the individual's vulnerability to disorders of aging, including cardiovascular disease, neurological impairments, cancer, cataracts, and arthritis

families with adolescents

Adolescence brings sharp changes in parental roles. - noted that parents must establish a revised relationship with their adolescent children—blending guidance with freedom and gradually loosening control. - Heightened parent-child bickering over everyday issues takes a toll, especially on mothers, who do most of the negotiating with teenagers. - Overall, children seem to navigate the challenges of adolescence more easily than parents, many of whom report a dip in marital and life satisfaction

Importance of Peer Interaction and Reflection

Advances in epistemic cognition depend on further gains in metacognition, which are likely to occur in situations that challenge young people's perspectives and induce them to consider the rationality of their thought processes - In a study of the college learning experiences of seniors scoring low and high in epistemic cognition, high-scoring students frequently reported activities that encouraged them to struggle with realistic but ambiguous problems in a supportive environment, in which faculty offered encouragement and guidance - In tackling challenging, ill-structured problems, interaction among individuals who are roughly equal in knowledge and authority prevents acceptance of another's reasoning simply because of greater power or expertise. - Of course, reflection on one's own thinking can also occur individually. But peer interaction fosters the necessary type of individual reflection: arguing with oneself over competing ideas and strategies and coordinating opposing perspectives into a new, more effective structure.

Alcohol

Alcohol Alcohol consumption peaks in the late teens and early twenties and then declines steadily with age - Excessive use is particularly high among 18- to 22- year-old college students: 14 percent report heavy drinking and 39 percent to binge drinking during the past month compared with 9 and 33 percent for other people of the same age - Alcoholism usually begins during this age range and worsens over the following decade - Women progress more quickly than men to alcohol dependence, in part because their bodies metabolize alcohol more slowly and, therefore, they experience alcohol-related problems at lower drinking levels - Consuming alcohol to dull awareness of life's problems is more strongly linked to sustained and increased use - Genes affecting alcohol metabolism and those promoting impulsivity and sensation seeking are involved But half of alcoholics have no family history of problem drinking - Alcohol acts as a depressant, impairing the brain's ability to control thought and action In a problem drinker, it relieves anxiety at first but then induces it as the effects wear off, so the person drinks again - Over time, alcohol causes brain damage - The most successful treatments combine personal and family counseling, group support, and aversion therapy (use of medication that produces a physically unpleasant reaction to alcohol, such as nausea and vomiting

exercise

Although most Americans are aware of the health benefits of exercise, only 50 percent of young adults engage in the nationally recommended 150 minutes per week of at least moderately intense leisure-time physical activity - And just 24 percent engage in the recommended 2 sessions per week of resistance exercises, which place a moderately stressful load on eat of the major muscle groups - Besides reducing body fat and building muscle, exercise fosters resistance to disease - Physical activity is linked to reduced incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and several types of cancer, with the strongest findings for breast and colon cancer - Another way that exercise guards against illness is through its mental health benefits - Physical activity reduces anxiety and depression and improves mood, alertness, and energy - Exercise enhances neural activity in the cerebral cortex, and it improves overall cognitive functioning

risk and resilience in emerging adulthood

Although most young people with access to the opportunities of emerging adulthood experience it as a time of flourishing, a sizable number flounder: their lack of direction is evident in persisting low self-esteem; high anxiety and depression; poor academic performance; and high levels of risky behaviors - Completing a college degree or vocational certification, finding and keeping a well-paying job, forging warm, stable relationships with friends and intimate partners, volunteering in one's community, and feeling generally satisfied with life foster a successful passage through these years - A secure, affectionate parent-emerging adult bond that extends the balance of connection and separation established in adolescence promotes many aspects of adaptive functioning - Autonomy-supportive parenting in particular- an empathic approach In which parents recognize the weighty decisions the young person faces and encourage personally valued choices- is linked to emerging adult's psychological well-being - Parental overprotection, expressed through excessive contact and psychological control is related to poor adjustment, including low self-esteem, inability to make commitments in identity function, and increased anxiety, depression, and alcohol use - Helicopter parenting, where parents hover over the emerging adult out of excessive concern for his or her well-being, is related to reduced school engagement - Exposure to multiple negative life events undermines development, even in emerging adults whose childhood and adolescence prepared them well for this transition

Heterosexual Attitudes and Behavior

Although their sexual practices are diverse, adults in Western nations are far less sexually active than we have come to believe on the basis of widespread displays of sexuality in the media. - Sexual partners, whether dating, cohabiting, or married, tend to be similar in age (within five years), education, ethnicity, and (to a lesser extent) religion. In addition, people who establish lasting relationships often meet in conventional ways—through friends or family members, or at school or social events where people similar to themselves congregate - Sustaining an intimate relationship is easier when adults share interests and values and people they know approve of the match. - Over the past decade, the Internet has become an increasingly popular way to initiate relationships. Among a sample of 2,200 Americans, 11 percent said they had used online dating sites or mobile dating apps. - Acceptance of premarital sex has also increased, with a sharp rise after the mid-2000s - Most young adults say they eventually want to settle down with a mutually exclusive lifetime sexual partner. In the past, dating several partners was followed by marriage. - Today, dating more often gives way to cohabitation, which typically leads either to marriage or to breakup. In addition, people are marrying later, and the divorce rate remains high. Together, these factors create more opportunities for new partners. - The prevalence of casual sex suggests that young people often use it to gratify sexual needs during a time in which they are not yet ready to invest in an intimate bond. - A minority of U.S. adults—women more often than men—report persistent sexual problems. For women, the two most frequent difficulties are lack of interest in sex and inability to achieve orgasm. - Most often mentioned by men are climaxing too early and anxiety about performance. - As these findings suggest, a history of unfavorable relationships and sexual experiences increases the risk of sexual dysfunction. - But overall, a completely untroubled physical experience is not essential for sexual happiness. Satisfying sex involves more than technique; it is attained in the context of love and fidelity.

Expertise and Creativity

Among young adults, expertise—acquisition of extensive knowledge in a field or endeavor—is supported by the specialization that begins with selecting a college major or an occupation, since it takes many years to master any complex domain. - Experts' curiosity, even passion, for their field fuels this sustained learning - Compared with novices, experts remember and reason more quickly and effectively - The expert knows more domain-specific concepts and represents them in richer ways—at a deeper and more abstract level and as having more features that can be linked to other concepts. - As a result, unlike novices, whose understanding is superficial, experts approach problems with underlying principles in mind. - Experts can use what they know to arrive at many solutions automatically—through quick and easy remembering. And when a problem is challenging, they tend to plan ahead, systematically analyzing and categorizing elements and selecting the best from many possibilities, while the novice proceeds more by trial and error. Expertise is necessary for creativity - Mature creativity requires a unique cognitive capacity—the ability to formulate new, culturally meaningful problems and to ask significant questions that have not been posed before - Case studies support the 10-year rule in development of master-level creativity—a decade between initial exposure to a field and sufficient expertise to produce a creative work - Those who get an early start in creativity tend to peak and drop off sooner, whereas "late bloomers" reach their full stride at older ages. This suggests that creativity is more a function of "career age" than of chronological age. - Though creativity is rooted in expertise, it also requires other qualities. A vital ingredient is the capacity to "think intuitively" with a reduced filter—to avoid dismissing information that, at first glance, appears irrelevant. - In personality, creative individuals are tolerant of ambiguity, open to new experiences, persistent and driven to succeed, capable of deep task involvement, and willing to try again after failure - Finally, creativity demands time and energy. For women especially, it may be postponed or disrupted by child rearing, divorce, or an unsupportive partner.

Nutrition

An abundance of food, combined with a heavily scheduled life, means that most Americans eat because they feel like it or because it is time to do so rather than to maintain the body's functions

sexual coercion

An estimated 19 percent of U.S. women, sometime in their lives, have endured rape, legally defined as vaginal, anal, or oral penetration with a body part or object by force, by threat of harm, or when the victim is incapable of giving consent (because of alcohol consumption, mental illness, or intellectual disability). - About 45 percent of women have experienced other forms of sexual coercion. The majority of victims (nearly 8 out of 10) were first victimized before age 25. The incidence is especially high on college campuses - Men who commit these acts tend to be manipulative of others, lack empathy and remorse, pursue casual sexual relationships rather than emotional intimacy, approve of violence against women, and accept rape myths (such as - "Women really want to be raped"). - Furthermore, sexual abuse in childhood, promiscuity in adolescence, and alcohol abuse in adulthood are associated with sexual coercion. Approximately half of all sexual assaults take place while people are intoxicated - When men are taught from an early age to be dominant, competitive, and aggressive and women to be submissive and cooperative, the themes of rape are reinforced. - About 2 percent of U.S. men have been victims of rape, and 23 percent victims of other forms of sexual coercion. As with women, men under age 25 are at highest risk - Victimized men often say that women who committed these acts used threats of physical force or actual force, encouraged them to get drunk, or threatened to end the relationship unless they complied

siblings and friends

As young people marry and invest less time in developing a romantic partnership, siblings—especially sisters whose earlier bond was positive—become more frequent companions than in adolescence - A childhood history of intense parental favoritism and sibling rivalry can disrupt sibling bonds in adulthood - But when family experiences have been positive, relationships between adult siblings can be especially close and are important sources of psychological well-being - In families with five to ten siblings, common in industrialized nations in the past and still widespread in some cultures, close sibling bonds may replace friendships

Sexuality

At the end of the teenage years, nearly 70 percent of U.S. young people have had sexual intercourse; by age 25, nearly all have done so, and the link between sexual activity and economic disadvantage apparent in adolescence has diminished - Compared with earlier generations, contemporary adults display a wider range of sexual choices and lifestyles, including nonmarital experiences, cohabitation, marriage, and orientation toward a heterosexual or same-sex partner.

factors of marital satisfaction:

Backgrounds - Happy marriage: partners similar in SES, education, religion, and age - Unhappy marriage: partners very different in SES, education, religion, and age Age at marriage - Happy marriage: after mid-20s - Unhappy marriage: before mid-20s Timing of first pregnancy - Happy marriage: after first year of marriage - Unhappy marriage: before or within first year of marriage Relationship to extended family - Happy marriage: warm and positive - Unhappy marriage: negative; wish to maintain distance Marital patterns in extended family - Happy marriage: stable - Unhappy marriage: unstable; frequent separations and divorces Financial employment status - Happy marriage: secure - Unhappy marriage: insecure Family responsibilities - Happy marriage: shared; perception of fairness - Unhappy marriage: largely the woman's responsibility; perception of unfairness Personality characteristics and behavior - Happy marriage: emotionally positive; common interests; good conflict-resolution skills - Unhappy marriage: emotionally negative and impulsive; lack of common interests; poor conflict-resolution skills

childlessness

Childlessness among U.S. women in their mid-forties increased from 10 percent in 1975 to 20 percent in 2006, and then declined to 15 percent in 2014 - Some people are involuntarily childless because they did not find a partner with whom to share parenthood or their efforts at fertility treatments did not succeed. - But voluntary childlessness is not always a permanent condition. A few people decide early that they do not want to be parents and stick to their plans. - The voluntarily childless are usually highly educated, have prestigious occupations, are very committed to their work, and are less traditional in gender-role attitudes - At the same time, the recent decline in childlessness is largely due to more educated, career-focused women, who are more numerous than in the past, eventually opting for parenthood. - Voluntarily childless adults are just as content with their lives as parents who have warm relationships with their children - But adults who cannot overcome infertility are likely to be dissatisfied—some profoundly disappointed, others more ambivalent, depending on compensations in other areas of their lives

Cohabitation

Cohabitation refers to the lifestyle of unmarried couples who have a sexually intimate relationship and who share a residence. - Until the 1960s, cohabitation in Western nations was largely limited to low-SES adults. - Among U.S. young people, cohabitation is now the preferred mode of entry into an intimate partnership, chosen by over 70 percent of couples age 30 and younger - Cohabitation rates are even higher among adults with failed marriages; about one-third of these households include children. - Cohabiters have many of the same legal rights and responsibilities as married couples and express nearly the same level of commitment to each other the majority of both types of cohabiting relationships dissolve at a similarly high rate and less often lead to marriage. - More U.S. young adult cohabiters are entering these unions without expectations or plans to marry, perhaps motivated instead by a desire to increase the cost-effectiveness and convenience of life with their current romantic partner. - Furthermore, couples who do transition from cohabitation to marriage are at slightly greater risk of divorce than couples who marry directly, without cohabiting. - Premarital cohabitation before age 25, like early marriage, is associated with reduced readiness to select a compatible partner and forge a committed romantic bond. - young premarital cohabiters are more likely than direct marriers to be non-college-educated, to come from single-parent families, and to differ in age and background from their partner - Lesbian and gay cohabiters are exceptions to the high risk for breakup just described. The legal right to marry, granted to U.S. same-sex couples in 2015, is so recent that many already viewed their cohabiting relationships as symbols of long-term commitment

factor related to divorce

Compared to men, women reported more problems, largely involving their emotions, such as anger and hurt feelings. - Men seemed to have difficulty sensing their wife's distress, which contributed to her view of the marriage as unhappy. - The strongest predictors of divorce during the following decade were infidelity, spending money foolishly, drinking or using drugs, expressing jealousy, engaging in irritating habits, and moodiness. - Research conducted in diverse industrialized nations confirms that parental divorce elevates risk of divorce in the next generation, in part because it promotes child adjustment problems and reduces commitment to the norm of lifelong marriage - As a result, when adult children marry, they are more likely to engage in inconsiderate behaviors and to have conflict-ridden relationships and less likely to try to work through these difficulties or (if they do try) to have the skills to do so. - Marriage to a caring spouse from a stable family background reduces these negative outcomes. Poorly educated, economically disadvantaged couples who suffer multiple life stresses are especially likely to split up - American individualism—which includes the belief that each person has the right to pursue self-expression and personal happiness—contributes to the unusually high U.S. divorce rate

marital roles

Contemporary alterations in the context of marriage, including changing gender roles and living farther from family members, mean that couples must work harder than in the past to define their relationships. - Although partners are usually similar in religious and ethnic background, "mixed" marriages are increasingly common today. - Because of increased opportunities for interracial contact in colleges, workplaces, and neighborhoods and more positive attitudes toward intermarriage, highly educated young adults are more likely than their less educated counterparts to marry partners of another race or ethnicity - Age of marriage is the most consistent predictor of marital stability. Young people who marry in their teens to mid-twenties are more likely to divorce than those who marry later - Traditional marriage: a form of marriage involving clear division of roles- husband as head of household responsible for family economic well-being, wife as caregiver and homemaker - Egalitarian marriage: a form of marriage in which partners relate as equals, sharing power and authority. Both try to balance the time and energy they devote to their occupations, their children, and their relationship - In Western nations, men in dual-earner marriages participate much more in child care than in the past, although on average they put in just 60 percent of weekly hours that mothers do - Research in North America and Europe confirms that women's housework hours decline modestly as their employment hours and income increase - Employed women's reduced time doing housework is likely made possible by either purchase of time-saving services (cleaning help, prepackaged meals) or greater tolerance for unkempt homes, or both. - Rather egalitarian relationships, with equal sharing of authority and household tasks, are more common in same-sex than in other-sex relationships

parenting education

Contemporary parents eagerly seek information on child rearing. They also reach out to family members and networks of other women for assistance. - Fathers, by contrast, less often have social networks through which they can learn about child rearing. Consequently, they frequently turn to their partner to figure out how to relate to their child, especially if they have a close, confiding marriage - Parent education courses exist to help parents clarify child-rearing values, improve family communication, understand how children develop, and apply more effective parenting strategies

social clock

Cultural changes from one generation to the next can affect the life course - Yet all societies have some kind of social clock: age-graded expectations for major life events, such as beginning a first job, getting married, birth of the first child, buying a home, and retiring - Among economically better-off young people, finishing one's education, marrying, and having children occur much later in the lifespan than they did a generation or two ago - These conditions can create intergenerational tensions if parents expect their young-adult children to attain adult milestones on an outdated schedule - Young adults may also feel distressed because their own timing of major milestones is not widely shared by their contemporaries or supported by current public policies, thereby weakening both informal and formal social supports - Following a social clock of some kind seems to foster confidence and social stability because it guarantees that young people will develop skills, engage in productive work, and gain in understanding of self and others

never married single parents

Currently, about 40 percent of U.S. births are to single mothers, more than double the percentage in 1980. - A growing number of nonmarital births are planned and occur to cohabiting couples. But these relationships—common among young adults with low education—are often unstable

leaving home

Departure from the parental home is a major step toward assuming adult responsibilities. - But reasons for co-residence have changed: Early twentieth-century young adults resided with parents so they could contribute to the family economy. - Departures for education tend to occur at earlier ages, those for full-time work and marriage later. - Because the majority of U.S. young adults enroll in higher education, many leave home around age 18. Those from divorced, single-parent homes tend to be early leavers, perhaps because of family stress - Slightly over half of U.S. 18- to 25-year-olds return to their parents' home for brief periods after first leaving - Usually, role transitions, such as the end of college or military service, bring young people back. But tight job markets, high housing costs, mental health problems, failures in work or love, or desire by young people launching their work lives to conserve economic resources can also prompt a temporary return home - The percentage of U.S. young adults residing with parents is higher today than at any time in the past 60 years - Those who have a bachelor's degree and are employed are more likely to establish their own residence. - Among African-American, Hispanic, and Native-American groups, poverty and a cultural tradition of extended-family living lead to markedly lower rates of leaving home, even among young people in college or working - Parents of young adults living at home are usually highly committed to helping their children move into adult roles. - Many provide wide-ranging assistance—not just financial support, but material resources, advice, companionship, and emotional support as well. - Still, in homes where parents and young adults live together, conflict over personal and moral values related to the young person's future tends to rise - But when young adults feel securely attached to parents and well-prepared for independence, departure from the home is linked to more satisfying parent-child interaction and successful transition to adult roles - In contrast, leaving home very early because of a lack of parental financial and emotional support is associated with less successful educational, marriage, and work lives

consequences of divorce

Divorce provides opportunities for both positive and negative change. - Immediately after separation, both men and women experience disrupted social networks, a decline in social support, and increased anxiety and depression - Finding a new partner contributes most to the psychological well-being of divorced adults - But it is more crucial for men, who adjust less well than women to living on their own. women—especially those who were in very low-quality marriages—tend to bounce back more easily from divorce - job training, continued education, career advancement, and social support from family and friends play vital roles in the economic and psychological well-being of many divorced women.

divorce and remarriage

Divorce rates have declined over the past two decades, partly because of rising age at marriage, which is linked to greater financial stability and marital satisfaction - Because most divorces occur within seven years of marriage, many involve young children. - Divorces are also common during the transition to midlife, when people have adolescent children—a period (as noted earlier) of reduced marital satisfaction. - Nearly 60 percent of divorced adults remarry. But marital failure is even greater during the first few years of second marriages—10 percent above that for first marriages.

identity development

During the college years, young people refine their approach to constructing an identity - Besides exploring in breadth (weighing multiple possibilities and making commitments), they increasingly explore in depth (evaluating existing commitments) - Dual cycle model: identity formation is a process of feedback loops between in depth exploration and reconsideration until you feel certain of your choices - Emerging adults are required to "individualize" their identities- a process that requires a sense of self-efficacy, planfulness and purpose, determination to overcome obstacles, and responsibility for outcomes - This set of qualities is termed personal agency

varied styles of parenthood

Each type of family—blended, never-married, gay or lesbian, among others—presents unique challenges to parenting competence and adult psychological well-being.

psychological stress

Psychological stress, measured in terms of adverse social conditions, traumatic experiences, negative life events, or daily hassles, is related to a wide variety of unfavorable health outcomes - As SES decreases, exposure to diverse stressors rises—an association that plays an important role in the strong connection between low SES and poor health. - Chronic stress is linked to overweight and obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. - Earlier we mentioned that stress interferes with immune system functioning, a link that may underlie its relationship to several forms of cancer

Erickson's theory: intimacy versus isolation

Erikson's psychological conflict of early adulthood is intimacy versus isolation, evident in the young person's thoughts and feelings about making a long-term commitment to an intimate partner and in close, mutually gratifying friendships - Intimacy requires that young people redefine their identity to include both partner's values and interests - Those in their late teens through mid-twenties frequently say they don't feel ready for a lasting romantic tie, mentioning concerns about career and financial security and emotional readiness, including limits on their freedom - Without intimacy, young adults face the negative outcome of - Erikson's early adulthood stage: loneliness and self-absorption A secure identity fosters attainment of intimacy - Advanced identity development strongly predicts involvement in a deep, committed love partnership or readiness to establish such a partnership - Young people who have achieved intimacy are cooperative, agreeable, communicative, and accepting of differences in background and values - Those with a sense of isolation hesitate to form close ties because they fear loss of their own identity, tend to compete rather than cooperate, are not accepting of differences, and are easily threatened when others get to close - Erikson believed that successful resolution of intimacy versus isolation prepares the individual for middle adulthood stage, which focuses on generativity- caring for the next generation and helping to improve society

same-sex friendships

Extending a pattern evident in childhood and adolescence, women's same-sex friendships are more intimate than men's. - Barriers to intimacy between male friends include competitiveness, which may make men unwilling to disclose weaknesses. - Of course, individual differences exist in friendship quality. - Lesbian and gay romantic relationships often develop out of close same-sex friendships, with lesbians, especially, forging compatible friendships before becoming involved romantically - As they develop romantic ties and marry, young adults—especially men—direct more of their disclosures toward their partners. Still, friendships continue to be vital contexts for personal sharing throughout adulthood.

romantic love

Finding a life partner is a major milestone of early adulthood, with profound consequences for self-concept and psychological well-being

reproductive capacity

First births to women in their thirties have increased greatly over the past 3 decades - Many people are delaying childbearing until their education is complete and their careers are well-established - Because the uterus shows no consistent changes from the late thirties through the forties, the decline in female fertility is largely due to reduced number and quality of ova - A certain level of reserve ova in the ovaries is necessary for conception - In males, semen volume and sperm motility decrease gradually after age 35, contributing to reduced fertility, the percentage of abnormal sperm rises, which elevates miscarriage rates and diminishes the success of reproductive technologies, irrespective of maternal age

family life cycle

For most young people, the life course takes shape within the family life cycle: a series of phases characterizing the development of most families around the world - In early adulthood, people typically live on their own, marry, and bear and rear children. - In middle age, as their children leave home, their parenting responsibilities diminish. - Late adulthood brings retirement, growing old, and (more often for women) death of one's spouse - Stress tends to be greatest during transitions between phases, as family members redefine and reorganize their relationships.

other sex-friendships

From the college years through career exploration and settling into work roles, other-sex friendships increase. - After marriage, they decline for men but continue to rise for women, who more often form them in the workplace. - Highly educated, employed women have the largest number of other-sex friends. - Through these relationships, young adults often gain in companionship and self-esteem and learn about masculine and feminine styles of intimacy - Many people try to keep other-sex friendships platonic to safeguard their integrity. But sometimes the relationship changes into a romantic bond. - When a solid other-sex friendship does evolve into a romance, it may be more stable and enduring than a romantic relationship formed without a foundation in friendship.

parenthood

In the past, having children was, for many adults, a biological given or a compelling social expectation. Today, in Western industrialized nations, it is a matter of true individual choice. - Effective birth control techniques enable adults to avoid having children in most instances. - Nevertheless, the 6 percent of American 18- to 40-year-olds who currently say they do not want children is just slightly higher than the 5 percent who said so a quarter century ago - Among U.S. adults age 40 and older, 85 percent of women and 76 percent of men are parents At the same time, increasing numbers of young adults in industrialized nations are delaying parenthood or not having children. Consistent with this trend and with the decision of most mothers to divide their energies between family and work, family size has declined to an all-time low.

Pragmatic Thought and Cognitive-Affective Complexity

Gisella Labouvie-Vief's (1980, 1985) portrait of adult cognition echoes features of Perry's theory. - Adulthood involves movement from hypothetical to pragmatic thought, a structural advance in which logic becomes a tool for solving real-world problems - The need to specialize motivates this change. As adults select one path out of many alternatives, they become more aware of the constraints of everyday life. - And in the course of balancing various roles, they accept c- ontradictions as part of existence and develop ways of thinking that thrive on imperfection and compromise. - Labouvie-Vief (2003, 2005, 2015) also points out that young adults' enhanced reflective capacities alter the dynamics of their emotional lives: They become more adept at integrating cognition with emotion and, in doing so, again make sense of discrepancies. - Labouvie-Vief found that from adolescence through middle adulthood, people gained in cognitive-affective complexity—awareness of conflicting positive and negative feelings and coordination of them into a complex, organized structure that recognizes the uniqueness of individual experiences - Cognitive-affective complexity promotes greater awareness of one's own and others' perspectives and motivations. Individuals high in cognitive-affective complexity view events and people in a tolerant, open-minded fashion. - And because cognitive-affective complexity involves accepting and making sense of both positive and negative feelings, it helps people regulate intense emotion and, therefore, think rationally about real-world dilemmas

aging at the level of tissues and organs

Gradual failure of the endocrine system, which produces and regulates hormones, is yet another route to aging - A drop in growth hormone is associated with loss of muscle and bone mass, addition of body fat, thinning of the skin, and decline in cardiovascular functioning - Deterioration in immune system functioning contributes to many conditions of again, including increased susceptibility to infectious disease and cancer, changes in blood vessel walls associated with cardiovascular disease, and chronic inflammation of body tissues, which leads to tissue damage and plays a role in many diseases

joining of families in marriage

The average age of first marriage in the United States has risen from about 20 for women and 23 for men in 1960 to 27 for women and 29 for men today. - Consequently, just 16 percent of contemporary U.S. 18- to 29-year-olds are married, compared to 60 percent a half-century ago - Postponement of marriage is even more marked in Western Europe—to the early thirties. - Same-sex marriages are recognized nationwide in 20 countries, including the United States. - evidence suggests that the same factors contribute to happiness in same-sex as in other-sex marriages

causes and consequences of obesity

Heredity makes some people more vulnerable to obesity than others - With decline in need for physical labor in the home and workplace, our lives have become more sedentary - Adding some weight between ages 25 and 50 is a normal part of aging because basal metabolic rate (BMR), the amount of energy the body uses at complete rest, gradually declines as the number of active muscle cells (which create the greatest energy demand) drops off - Excessive weight is strongly associated with serious health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, many forms of cancer, and with early death - Overweight adults suffer enormous social discrimination - The widespread but incorrect belief that obesity is a personal choice promotes negative stereotyping of obese people

Other Theories of Adult Psychosocial Development

In the 1970s, growing interest in adult development led to several widely read books on the topic. Daniel Levinson's The Seasons of a Man's Life (1978) and The Seasons of a Woman's Life (1996), and George Vaillant's Adaptation to Life (1977), Aging Well (2002), and Triumphs of Experience (2012) present psychosocial theories in the tradition of Erikson.

dropping out of school

In the 1970s, the United States ranked first in the world in percentage of young adults with college degrees; today it is twelfth, with just 44 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds having graduated. - It lags far behind such countries as Canada, Japan, and South Korea, the global leader—where the rate is 66 percent - Major contributing factors are the high U.S. child poverty rate; poor-quality schools in low-income neighborhoods; and high rates of high school dropout among economically disadvantaged, ethnic minority teenagers - College leaving is also influential: Six years after enrolling full-time at a four-year institution, 42 percent of U.S. students have not earned their degrees. Most dropouts leave within the first year and many within the first six weeks. - Dropout rates are higher in colleges with less selective admission requirements - And ethnic minority students from low-SES families are, once again, at increased risk of dropping out. - Both personal and institutional factors contribute to college leaving. First-year students who have trouble adapting—because of lack of motivation, poor study skills, financial pressures, or emotional dependence on parents—quickly develop negative attitudes toward the college environment. - At the same time, colleges that do little to help high-risk students, through developmental courses and other support services, have a higher percentage of dropouts. - Students who feel that their college community is concerned about them as individuals are far more likely to graduate.

parenthood

In the past, having children was, for many adults, a biological given or a compelling social expectation. Today, in Western industrialized nations, it is a matter of true individual choice. - Effective birth control techniques enable adults to avoid having children in most instances. - Nevertheless, the 6 percent of American 18- to 40-year-olds who currently say they do not want children is just slightly higher than the 5 percent who said so a quarter century ago - Among U.S. adults age 40 and older, 85 percent of women and 76 percent of men are parents - At the same time, increasing numbers of young adults in industrialized nations are delaying parenthood or not having children. Consistent with this trend and with the decision of most mothers to divide their energies between family and work, family size has declined to an all-time low.

families with young children

In today's complex world, men and women are less certain about how to rear children than in previous generations. - Clarifying child-rearing values and implementing them in warm, involved, and appropriately demanding ways are crucial for the welfare of the next generation and society. - Yet cultures do not always place a high priority on parenting, as indicated by lack of societal supports for children and families - Parents who engage in effective co-parenting, collaborating in parenting roles, are more likely to feel competent as parents, use effective child-rearing practices, and have children who are developing well. And they also gain in marital satisfaction - For employed parents, major struggles include finding good child care and, when their child is ill or otherwise in need of emergency care, taking time off from work or making other urgent arrangements. - The younger the child, the greater parents' sense of risk and difficulty—especially low-income parents, who must work longer hours to pay bills; who often, in the United States, have no workplace benefits (health insurance or paid sick leave); who typically cannot afford the cost of child care; and who experience more immediate concerns about their children's safety - When competent, convenient child care is not available, the woman usually faces added pressures. - Despite its challenges, rearing young children is a powerful source of adult development. - Parents report that it expands their emotional capacities, makes life more meaningful, and enhances psychological well-being

family influences

Individuals who grew up in higher-SES homes are more likely to select high-status, white-collar occupations, such as doctor, lawyer, scientist, or engineer. - In contrast, those with lower-SES backgrounds tend to choose less prestigious, blue-collar careers—for example, plumber, construction worker, food service employee, or office worker. - Years of schooling completed is a powerful predictor of occupational status. - Other factors also promote family resemblance in occupational choice. - Parental guidance, pressure to do well in school, college-going expectations, and encouragement toward high-status occupations predict confidence in career choice and educational and career attainment beyond SES

health and fitness

Leading causes of death in early adulthood: unintentional injury, cancer, heart disease, suicide, homicide - SES variations in health over the lifespans reflect these influences - Income, education, and occupational status show strong relationships with almost every disease and health indicator - Health-related circumstances and habits: stressful life events, crowding, pollution, diet, exercise, overweight and obesity, substance abuse, jobs with numerous health risks, and reduced social support, underlie SES health disparities - Poor health in childhood, which is linked to low SES, affects health in adulthood - The living conditions that nations and communities provide combine with those that people create for themselves to affect physical aging

lesion seasons of life

Levinson depicted adult development as a sequence of qualitatively distinct eras (or "seasons") coinciding with Erikson's stages and separated by transitions - The life structure, a key concept in Levinson's theory, is the underlying design of a person's life, consisting of relationships with individuals, groups, and institutions - Levison found that during the transition to early adulthood, most young people constructed a dream- an image of themselves in the adult world that guides their decision making - For men, the dream usually emphasized achievement in a career, whereas most career-oriented women had "split dreams" in which both marriage and career were prominent- findings confirmed in subsequent investigations - Around age 30, a second transition occurred: you people who had been preoccupied with career and were single usually focused on finding a life partner, while women who had emphasized marriage and family often developed more individualistic goals - To create an early adulthood culminating life structure, men usually "settled down" by focusing on certain relationships and aspirations, in an effort to establish a niche in society consistent with their values, whether those were wealth, prestige, artistic or scientific achievement, or forms of family or community participation - Many women, however, remained unsettled in their 30s, often because they added an occupational or relationship commitment

friendships

Like romantic partners and childhood friends, adult friends are usually similar in age, sex, and SES - As in earlier years, friends in adulthood enhance self-esteem and psychological well-being through affirmation, acceptance, autonomy support (permitting disagreement and choice), and support in times of stress - Friends also make life more interesting by expanding social opportunities and access to knowledge and points of view - Sharing thoughts and feelings is sometimes greater in friendship than in marriage, although commitment is less strong as friends come and go over the life course - Because of a dramatic rise in social media use, today's friendships are no longer as constrained by physical proximity.

The College Experience

Looking back at the trajectory of their lives, many people view the college years as more influential than any other period of adulthood. - College is a time for devoting full attention to exploring alternative values, roles, and behaviors. To facilitate this exploration, college exposes students to new ideas and beliefs, new freedoms and opportunities, and new academic and social demands. - Nearly 70 percent of U.S. recent high school graduates enrolled in an institution of higher education. - Among college students, 60 percent followed this traditional route of starting college shortly after finishing high school, earning their undergraduate degree by age 24. - The remaining 40 percent, who range widely in age, delayed college entry because of financial constraints, family responsibilities, or other life circumstances

worldview

Most emerging adults say that constructing a worldview, or a set of beliefs and values to live by, is essential for attaining adult status- even more important than finishing their education and settling into a career and marriage - Over these years, adults derive a greater sense of competence from making identity commitments, entering and succeeding at their careers, having families, and becoming involved in their communities - Evidence also supports the view that many emerging adults are committed to improving their communities, nation, and world - Today's emerging adults have a stronger pluralistic orientation- disposition for living in a diverse society that promotes individual respect and equality of opportunity, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation - Overall, the intentions and behaviors of emerging adults reflect considerable caring and concern for others and civic engagement, from which they reap wide-ranging benefits- enhanced self-esteem, sense of purpose and meaning, social skills, and social networks - Attendance at religious service declines further in the late teens and twenties as young people question beliefs acquired in their families and search for personally meaningful alternatives - Many young people begin to construct their own individualized faith and, if attending college, frequently discuss religious and spiritual beliefs and experiences with friends - Emerging adults who say their parents used and authoritative child-rearing style are more likely to hold religious or spiritual beliefs and engage in religious practices similar to their parents' - US emerging adults who are religious or spiritual tend to be better adjusted - They are higher in self-esteem and psychological well-being; less often engage in substance use, antisocial acts, or hookup and friend-with-benefits relationships; and are more involved in community service

factors influencing vocational choice

Most, but not all, young people follow this pattern of vocational development. - A few know from an early age just what they want to be and pursue a direct path to a career goal. - Some decide and later change their minds, and still others remain undecided for an extended period. - In contrast, the life conditions of many low-SES youths restrict their range of choices. - Making an occupational choice is not simply a rational process in which young people weigh abilities, interests, and values against career options. Like other developmental milestones, it is the result of a dynamic interaction between person and environment

Vocational Preparation of Non-College-Bound Young Adults

Nearly 20 percent of U.S. recent high school graduates who do not continue their education are unemployed - When they do find work, most hold low-paid, unskilled jobs. In addition, they have few alternatives for vocational counseling and job placement as they transition from school to work. - American employers regard recent high school graduates as unprepared for skilled business and industrial occupations and manual trades - Unlike European nations, the United States has no widespread training system for non-college-bound youths. As a result, most graduate without work-related skills. - In Germany, young people who do not go to a Gymnasium (college-preparatory high school) have access to one of the most successful work-study apprenticeship systems in the world for entering business and industry. - About 60 percent of German youths participate. After completing full-time schooling at age 15 or 16, they spend the remaining two years of compulsory education in the - -Berufsschule, combining part-time vocational courses with an apprenticeship that is jointly planned by educators and employers. - Businesses provide financial support because they know that the program guarantees a competent, dedicated work force. - Many apprentices are hired into well-paid jobs by the firms that train them - Because of the apprenticeship system, Germany has the lowest unemployment rate among 18- to 25-year-olds in Europe—less than 8 percent. - The success of the German system—and of similar systems in Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, and several East European countries—suggests that a national apprenticeship program would improve the transition from high school to work for U.S. young people. - Although vocational development is a lifelong process, adolescence and early adulthood are crucial periods for defining occupational goals and launching a career. The support of families, schools, businesses, communities, and society as a whole can contribute greatly to a positive outcome.

overweight and obesity

Obesity has increased dramatically in many Western nations, and it is on the rise in the developing world as well - Obesity is especially prevalent among certain ethnic minorities, including native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans - 72 percent of America is considered overweight or obese, making Americans the heaviest people in the world - Overweight children and adolescents are very likely to become overweight adults - Among immigrants, rates of overweight and obesity increase with length of time in the United States

remarriage

On average, people remarry within four years of divorce, men somewhat faster than women. - Remarriages are especially vulnerable to breakup, for several reasons. First, practical matters—financial security, help in rearing children, relief from loneliness, and social acceptance—figure more heavily into choice of a second-marriage partner than a first - Second, some people transfer the negative patterns of interaction learned in their first marriage to the second. - Third, people with a failed marriage behind them are even more likely to view divorce as an acceptable solution when marital difficulties resurface. - Finally, remarried couples experience more stress from stepfamily situations Blended families generally take 3 to 5 years to develop the connectedness and comfort of intact biological families.

gender sterotypes

Over the past four decades, young women have expressed increasing interest in nontraditional occupations - Changes in gender-role attitudes, along with a dramatic rise in numbers of employed mothers who serve as career-oriented models for their daughters, are common explanations for women's attraction to nontraditional careers. although the percentage of women architects, engineers, lawyers, doctors, and business executives has risen in the - - United States over the past three decades, it still falls far short of equal representation - Women remain concentrated in less-well-paid, traditionally feminine professions such as social work, education, librarianship, and nursing - Rather, gender-stereotyped messages play a key role. - Although girls earn higher grades than boys, they reach secondary school less confident of their abilities, more likely to underestimate their achievement, and less likely to express interest in STEM careers. - In college, the career aspirations of many women decline further as they question their capacity and opportunities to succeed in male-dominated fields and worry about combining a highly demanding career with family responsibilities - In economically advanced countries, gender-typed beliefs about science ability had greater opportunity to become deeply ingrained and widespread. - These findings reveal a pressing need for programs that sensitize educators to the special problems women face in developing and maintaining high vocational aspirations and selecting nontraditional careers.

marital satisfaction

Overall, men report feeling slightly happier with their marriages than women do, but the difference is largely limited to couples in marital therapy - When a marriage is distressed, women are more likely to express dissatisfaction and seek professional help. - Equal power in the relationship and sharing of family responsibilities usually enhance both partners' satisfaction, largely by strengthening marital harmony - Of course, from time to time, individuals are bound to say or do something upsetting to their partner. When this happens, the partner's attributions, or explanations for the behavior, make a difference. - In fact, partners who hold overly positive (but still realistic) biases concerning each other's attributes are happier with their relationships - In contrast, people who feel devalued by their partner tend to react with anxiety and insecurity—more so when they are low in self-esteem, which heightens fear of rejection. - High school and college courses in family life education can promote better mate selection and teach communication skills that contribute to gratifying romantic partnerships and marriages.

culture and the experience of love

Passionate love, with its intense feelings of ecstasy and longing, is recognized in virtually all contemporary cultures, though its importance varies. - Passion, which forms the basis for romantic love, along with respect for the other's unique qualities, became the dominant basis for marriage in twentieth-century Western nations as the value of individualism strengthened - Trying to satisfy dependency needs through a close relationship is regarded as immature. - This Western view contrasts sharply with the perspectives of Eastern cultures, such as China and Japan, where lifelong dependency is accepted and viewed positively and the self is defined through role relationships—son or daughter, brother or sister, husband or wife. - In choosing a lifelong partner, Chinese and Japanese young people are expected to consider obligations to others, especially parents. - Still, even in Eastern countries such as China, India, and Japan where arranged marriages are still fairly common, parents and prospective brides and grooms consult one another before moving forward. - Furthermore, many arranged marriages succeed, with marital satisfaction just as high or higher than in self-chosen marriages - In interviews with arranged-marriage couples from diverse countries who reported that their love grew over time, participants explained that commitment helped bring about other qualities that strengthened love, including good communication, caring and concern, and pleasurable physical intimacy.

Personality

People are attracted to occupations that complement their personalities. -- John Holland (1985, 1997) identified six personality types that affect vocational choice: -- The investigative person: who enjoys working with ideas, is likely to select a scientific occupation (anthropologist, physicist, or engineer) The social person: who likes interacting with people, gravitates toward human services (counseling, social work, or teaching) The realistic person: who prefers real-world problems and working with objects, tend to choose a mechanical occupation (construction, plumbing, or surveying) The artistic person: who is emotional and high in need for individual expression, looks toward an artistic field (writing, music, or the visual arts) The conventional person: who likes well-structured tasks and values material possessions and social status, has traits well-suited to certain business fields (accounting, banking, or quality control) The enterprising person: who is adventurous, persuasive, and a strong leader, is drawn to sales and supervisory positions or to politics -- Research confirms a relationship between personality and vocational choice in diverse cultures, but it is only moderate -- Furthermore, career decisions are made in the context of family influences, financial resources, educational and job opportunities, and current life circumstances.

Changes in the Structure of Thought

Piaget recognized that important advances in thinking follow the attainment of formal operations - He observed that adolescents prefer and idealistic, internally consistent perspective on the world to one that is vague, contradictory, and adapted to particular circumstances - Postformal thought: cognitive development beyond Piaget's formal operational stage

unprecedented exploration

Psychologist Jeffery Arnett (2011) is the leader of a movement that regards emerging adulthood as a distinct period of life- a new stage between adolescence and adulthood defined by five features - Feeling in between: neither adolescent nor adult Identity exploration: especially in love, work, and worldview - Self-focused: not self-centered but lacking obligations to others - Instability: frequent changes in living arrangements, relationships, education, and work - Possibilities: able to choose among multiple life directions - Emerging adults have left adolescence but are still a considerable distance from taking on adult responsibilities - Because so little is normative, or socially expected, routes to adult responsibilities are highly diverse in timing and order across individuals - For example, more college students than in past generations pursue their education in a draw-out, nonlinear way As a result of these experiences, young people's interests, attitudes, and values broaden

cultural change, cultural variation and emerging adulthood

Rapid cultural change explains the recent appearance of emerging adulthood - Entry-level positions in many field require more education than in the past, prompting young adults to seek higher education in record numbers and thus delaying financial independence and career commitment - In developing nations, only a privileged minority- usually those from wealthier families who are admitted to universities- experience it - With limited education, they typically enter lifelong work, marriage, and parenthood early - For low SES youths in western nations who are burdened by early parenthood, do not finish high school, are otherwise academically unprepared for college, or do not have access to vocational training, emerging adulthood is limited or nonexistent - Some researchers predict that emerging adulthood will become increasingly common as globalization- the exchange of ideas, information, trade, and immigration among nations- accelerates

Consequences

Responses include shock, confusion, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—flashbacks, nightmares, irritability, psychological numbing, and difficulty concentrating—along with chronic fatigue, depression, substance abuse, social anxiety, difficulties with sexuality and intimacy, and suicidal thoughts - Victims of ongoing sexual coercion may fall into a pattern of extreme passivity and fear.

components of love

Robert Sternberg's triangular theory of love identifies three components: passion, intimacy, and commitment, that shift in emphasis as romantic relationships develop - Passion, the desire for sexual activity and romance, is the physical and psychological-arousal component Intimacy is the emotional component, consisting of warm, tender communication and caring, self-disclosure, plus a desire for the partner to reciprocate - Commitment, the cognitive component, leads partners to decide that they are in love and to maintain that love - At the beginning of the relationship, passionate love, intense sexual attraction, is strong Passion declines in favor of intimacy and commitment, which form the basis for two additional forms of love - Companionate love: love based on warm, trusting affection and valuing of the other. Distinguished from passionate love and compassionate love - Compassionate love: love based on concern for the other's well-being, expressed through caring efforts to alleviate the other's distress and promote the other's growth and flourishing - In the transition from a passionate to a companionate and compassionate bond, commitment may be the component of love that determines whether a relationship survives - Communicating that commitment in ways that strengthen intimacy strongly predicts relationship maintenance and satisfaction - An important feature of expressing commitment is constructive conflict resolution—directly expressing wishes and needs, listening patiently, asking for clarification, compromising, accepting responsibility, forgiving one's partner, using humor, and otherwise avoiding the escalation of negative interaction sparked by criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling - Although the capacity for constructive conflict resolution is a vital ingredient of enduring marriages, a tender, affectionate bond seems to energize that capacity, motivating couples to resolve conflicts in ways that preserve a gratifying sense of intimacy. Compared with women, men are less skilled at communicating - in ways that foster intimacy, offering less comfort and helpful support in their close relationships. Men also tend to be less effective at negotiating conflict, frequently avoiding discussion Sexual minority and heterosexual couples are similar in expressions of commitment, intimacy, and conflict and in the contributions of each to relationship satisfaction

singlehood

Singlehood—not living with an intimate partner—has increased in recent years, especially among young adults. - Today, more people marry later or not at all, and divorce has added to the numbers of single adults - Because they marry later, more young-adult men than women are single. - But women are far more likely than men to remain single for many years or their entire life. - Because of the tendency for women to "marry up" and men to "marry down," men with a high school diploma or less and highly educated women in prestigious careers are overrepresented among singles after age 30. high unemployment among black men interferes with marriage. - Many African Americans eventually marry in their late thirties and forties, a period in which black and white marriage rates move closer together. - The most commonly mentioned advantages of singlehood are freedom and mobility. But singles also recognize drawbacks—loneliness, the dating grind, limited sexual and social life, reduced sense of security, and feelings of exclusion from the world of married couples - But overall, people over age 35 who have always been single are content with their lives - Though not quite as happy as married people, they report feeling considerably happier than people recently widowed or divorced. - The mid-thirties is another trying time for women, as the biological deadline for pregnancy approaches. A few decide to become parents through artificial insemination or a love affair. And an increasing number are adopting, often from overseas countries.

stepparents

Stepparents enter the family as outsiders and, too often, move into their new parental role too quickly. Lacking a warm attachment bond to build on, their discipline is usually ineffective - Compared with first-marriage parents, remarried parents typically report higher levels of tension and disagreement, most centering on child-rearing issues. When both adults have children from prior marriages, rather than only one, more opportunities for conflict exist. - Stepmothers, particularly the 10 percent who live in the same residence as stepchildren, are especially likely to experience conflict. - After divorce, biological mothers are frequently jealous and uncooperative - Stepfathers with children of their own tend to establish positive bonds with stepchildren, especially stepsons, more readily, perhaps because they are experienced in building warm parent-child ties and feel less pressure than stepmothers to plunge into parenting - But stepfathers without biological children (like their stepmother counterparts) can have unrealistic expectations. - Or their wives may push them into the father role, sparking negativity from children - But establishing stepparent-stepchild bonds is challenging, contributing to a higher divorce rate for remarried couples with stepchildren than for those without them.

decision to have children

The choice of parenthood is affected by a complex array of factors, including financial circumstances, personal and religious values, career goals, health conditions, and availability of supportive government and workplace family policies. - Women with traditional gender identities usually decide to have children. Those in high-status, demanding careers less often choose parenthood and, when they do, more often delay it than women with less consuming jobs. - Parenthood typically reduces work hours and slows career progress among career-oriented women. In contrast, it generally has no impact on men. - Although some ethnic and regional differences exist, in all groups highly rated reasons for having children include personal rewards - couples look to parenthood as a gratifying opportunity to share in a challenging but important life task and to deepen their relationship. - Among disadvantages of parenthood, Americans most often cite concerns about role overload, doubts about their own readiness for parenthood, and worries about bringing up children in a troubled world. - The financial strains of child rearing follow close behind

decision to have children

The choice of parenthood is affected by a complex array of factors, including financial circumstances, personal and religious values, career goals, health conditions, and availability of supportive government and workplace family policies. Women with traditional gender identities usually decide to have children. Those in high-status, demanding careers less often choose parenthood and, when they do, more often delay it than women with less consuming jobs. Parenthood typically reduces work hours and slows career progress among career-oriented women. In contrast, it generally has no impact on men. Although some ethnic and regional differences exist, in all groups highly rated reasons for having children include personal rewards couples look to parenthood as a gratifying opportunity to share in a challenging but important life task and to deepen their relationship. Among disadvantages of parenthood, Americans most often cite concerns about role overload, doubts about their own readiness for parenthood, and worries about bringing up children in a troubled world. The financial strains of child rearing follow close behind

Cognitive Development

The cognitive changes of early adulthood are supported by further development of the prefrontal cortex and its connections with other brain regions - Pruning of synapses along with growth and myelination of stimulated neural fibers continue, though at a slower pace than in adolescence - These changes result in continued fine-tuning of the prefrontal cognitive control network, which achieves a better balance with the brain's emotional/social network as sensation seeking gradually diminishes - Planning, reasoning and decision making improve, supported by major life events of this period- including attaining higher education, entering a career, and grappling with the demands of marriage and child rearing - Evidence reveals that as young adults become increasingly proficient in a chosen field of endeavor, regions of the cerebral cortex specialized for those activities undergo further experience-dependent brain growth Transformations in the structure of thought- new, qualitatively distinct ways of thinking that extend the cognitive-developmental changes of adolescence - Adulthood is a time of acquiring advanced knowledge in a particular area, an accomplishment that has important implications for information processing and creativity - Researchers are interested in the extent to which the diverse mental abilities assessed by intelligence tests remain stable or changing during adult years

diversity of adult lifestyles

The current array of adult lifestyles dates back to the 1960s, when young people began to question the conventional wisdom of previous generations and to ask, "What kinds of commitments should I make to live a full and rewarding life?" - As the public became more accepting of diverse lifestyles, choices such as staying single, cohabiting, remaining childless, and divorcing seemed more available. - Today, nontraditional family options have penetrated the American mainstream. - some adults make a deliberate decision to adopt a lifestyle, whereas others drift into it. - the adoption of a lifestyle can be within or beyond the person's control.

transition to parenthood

The early weeks after a baby enters the family are full of profound changes: constant caregiving, added financial responsibilities, and less time for the couple's relationship. - In response, gender roles of husband and wife usually become more traditional - For most new parents, the arrival of a baby—though often followed by mild declines in relationship and overall life satisfaction—does not cause significant marital strain Marriages that are gratifying and supportive tend to remain so. - But troubled marriages usually become even more distressed after childbirth - Postponing childbearing until the late twenties or thirties, as more couples do today, eases the transition to parenthood. - Waiting permits couples to pursue occupational goals, gain life experience, and strengthen their relationship. - A second birth typically requires that fathers take an even more active role in parenting—by caring for the firstborn while the mother is recuperating and by sharing in the high demands of tending to both a baby and a young child. - Generous, paid employment leave—widely available in industrialized nations but not in the United States—is crucial for parents of newborns.

dietary fat

The federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that no more than 10 percent of total caloric intake be made up of saturated fat, which generally comes from meat and dairy products and is solid at room temperature - No dietary limits are placed on healthy, unsaturated fats, found in most types of vegetable oil - Research indicates that saturated fat, especially from meat, plays a role in the age-related rise in cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and colon cancer - When we consume excessive saturated fat, some is converted to cholesterol, which accumulates as plaque on the arterial walls in atherosclerosis - Regular exercise can reduce the harmful influence of saturated fat because it creates chemical byproducts that help eliminate cholesterol from the body

immune system

The immune system response is the combined work of specialized cells that neutralize or destroy antigens (foreign substances) in the body - Two types of white blood cells play vital roles ------T-cells: originate in the bone marrow and mature in the thymus (a small gland located in the upper part of the chest) attack antigens directly ------B-cells: manufactured in the bone marrow, secrete antibodies into the bloodstream that multiply, capture antigens, and permit the blood system to destroy them - The capacity of the immune system to offer protection against disease increases through adolescence and declines after age 20 - Withering of the thymus is not the only reason that the body gradually becomes less effective in warding off illness. The immune system interacts with the nervous and endocrine systems - Conflict-ridden relationships, caring for an ill aging parent, sleep deprivation, and chronic depression can also reduce immunity. - And physical stress—from pollution, allergens, poor nutrition, and rundown housing—undermines immune functioning throughout adulthood - When physical and psychological stressors combine, the risk of illness is magnified.

motor performance

The impact of biological aging on motor skills is difficult to separate from decreases in motivation and practice - Upper biological limit of motor capacity is reached in the first part of early adulthood In sum, before late adulthood, biological aging accounts for only a small part of age-related declines -Lower levels of performance by healthy people into their sixties and seventies largely reflect reduced capacities resulting from a less physically demanding lifestyle

gradual transition: emerging adulthood

The life pursuits and subjective judgements of many contemporary young people indicate that the transition to adult roles has become so delayed and prolonged that is has spawned a new transitional period extending from the late teens to the mid- to take twenties, called emerging adulthood

Sexual Minority Attitudes and Behavior

The majority of Americans support civil liberties and equal employment opportunities for lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. And attitudes toward sex and romantic relationships between adults of the same sex have gradually become more accepting - Acceptance is greatest among highly educated people who are low in religiosity. - An estimated 3.8 percent of U.S. men and women—more than 8 million adults—identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender - People tend to seek out partners similar in education and background to themselves; partners in committed relationships have sex more often and are more satisfied; and the overall frequency of sex is generally moderate, though higher for gay than lesbian couples in early adulthood - Sexual minorities tend to live in or near large cities, where many others share their sexual orientation, or in college towns, where attitudes are more accepting - Living in small communities where prejudice is intense and no social network exists through which to find compatible same-sex partners is isolating, lonely, and predictive of mental health problems

Cardiovascular and Respiratory Systems

The prevalence of hypertension is 14 percent higher in the US black than in the US white population; the African-American rate of death from heart disease is 40 percent higher - Only during stressful exercise does heart performance decline with age- a change due to a decrease in maximum heart rate and greater rigidity of the heart muscle - One of the most serious diseases of the cardiovascular system is atherosclerosis, in which heavy deposits of plaque containing cholesterol and fats collect on the walls of the main arteries - Like the heart, lung capacity decreases during physical exertion

Epistemic Cognition

The work of William Perry (1981, 1970/1998) provided the starting point for an expanding research literature on the development of epistemic cognition - Epistemic means "of or about knowledge" and epistemic cognition refers to out reflections on how we arrived at facts, belief, and ideas

psychological impact of attending college

Thousands of studies reveal broad psychological changes from the freshman to the senior year of college - As research on epistemic cognition revealed, students become better at reasoning about problems that have no clear solution, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of opposing sides of complex issues, and reflecting on the quality of their thinking. - Their attitudes and values also broaden. They show increased interest in literature, the performing arts, and philosophical and historical issues and greater tolerance for racial and ethnic diversity. - college leaves its mark on moral reasoning by fostering concern with individual rights and human welfare, sometimes expressed in political activism. - During the college years, students develop greater self-understanding, enhanced self-esteem, and a firmer sense of identity. - The more students study and interact with both faculty and diverse peers in academic and extracurricular settings, the more they benefit cognitively—in grasping the complex causes of events, thinking critically, and generating effective problem solutions - Also, interacting with racially and ethnically mixed peers—both in courses exploring diversity issues and in out-of-class settings—predicts gains in civic engagement. - And students who connect their community service experiences with their classroom learning show large cognitive gains

Development of Epistemic Cognition

Through research responses indicated that students' reflections on knowing changed as they experienced the complexities of university life and moved closer to adult roles- findings confirmed in many subsequent studies - Dualistic thinking: in Perry's theory, the cognitive approach typical of younger college students, who divide information, values, and authority into right and wrong, good and bad, we and they - Older students, in contrast, had moved toward relativistic thinking: in Perry's theory, the cognitive approach typical of older college students, who view all knowledge as embedded in a framework of thought and, therefore, give up the possibility of absolute truth in favor of multiple truths, each relative to its context - Eventually, the most mature individuals progress to commitment within relativistic thinking: in Perry's theory, the mature individual's formation of a perspective that synthesizes contradictions between opposing views, rather than choosing between them

close relationships

To establish an intimate tie, people build an emotional bond that they sustain over time - Although young adults are especially concerned with romantic love, the need for intimacy can also be satisfied though other relationships involving mutual commitment, with friends, siblings, and co-workers

substance abuse

US 19-25 year-olds are more likely than younger or older individuals to smoke cigarettes, chew tobacco, use marijuana, and take stimulants to enhance cognitive or physical performance - Binge, drinking, driving under the influence, and experimentation with prescription and "party" drugs also increase - Risks include brain damage, lasting impairments in mental functioning, and liver, kidney, and heart failure resulting in death - When alcohol and drug taking become chronic, they intensify the psychological problems that underlie addiction

vaillants adaptation to life

Vaillant followed the development of nearly 250 men born in the 1920s, selected for study while they were students at a competitive liberal arts college - Looking at how the men altered themselves and their social world to adapt to life, Vaillant built on Erikson's stages - After focusing on intimacy concerns in their twenties, the men turned to career consolidation in their thirties - During their forties, they became more generative - In their fifties and sixties, they extended that generativity; they became "keepers of meaning," expressing a deep need to preserve and pass on cultural traditions and lessons learned from life experience - Finally in late adulthood, the men became more spiritual and reflective - The stages described are based largely on interviews with people born in the first few decades of the 20th century, many of whom were educationally and economically advantaged - Due to differing SES and cultural background, people may assemble the themes and dilemmas identified by these theorists into individualized arrangements, in a dynamic system, of interacting biological, psychological, and social forces

physical changes

Vision From age 30: The lens stiffens and thicken, ability to focus on close objects declines. Yellowing of the lens, weakening of muscles controlling the pupil, and clouding of the vitreous reduces light reaching the retina, impairing color discrimination and night vision Visual acuity, or fineness of discrimination, decreases, with a sharp drop between ages 70-80 Hearing From age 30: Sensitivity to sound declines, especially at high frequencies but gradually extending to all frequencies. Change is more than twice rapid for men as for women Taste From age 60:Sensitivity to the four basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour, and bitter) is reduces as number and distribution of taste buds on the tongue declines Smell From age 60: Loss of smell receptors reduces ability to detect and identify odors Touch Gradual: Loss of touch receptors reduces sensitivity on the hands, particularly the fingertips Cardiovascular Gradual: as the heart muscle becomes more rigid, maximum heart rate decreases, reducing the heart's ability to meet the body's oxygen requirements when stressed by exercise. As artery walls stiffen and accumulate plaque, blood flow to body cells is reduced Respiratory Gradual: under physical exertion, respiratory capacity decreases and breathing rate increases. Stiffening of connective tissue in the lungs and chest muscles makes it more difficult for the lungs to expand to full volume Immune Gradual: shrinking of the thymus limits maturation of T-cells and disease-fighting capacity of B-cells, impairing the immune response Muscular Gradual: as nerves stimulating them die, fast-twitch muscle fibers decline in number and size to a greater extent than slow-twitch fibers. Tendons and ligaments stiffen, reducing speed and flexibility of movement Skeletal Begins in the late 30s, accelerates in the 50s, slows in the 70s Cartilage in the joints thins and cracks, leading bone ends beneath it to erode. New cells continue to be deposited on the outer layer of the bones, and mineral content of bone declines. The resulting broader but more porous bones weaken the skeleton and make it more vulnerable to fracture. Change is more rapid in women than in men Reproductive In women, accelerates after age 35; in men, begins after age 40 Fertility problems and risk of having a baby with chromosomal disorder increase Nervous From age 50: brain weight declines as neurons lose water content and die, mostly in the cerebral cortex, and as ventricles within the brain enlarge. Development of new synapses and limited generation of new neurons can, in part, compensate for these declines Skin Gradual: epidermis is held less tightly to the dermis; fibers in the dermis and hypodermis thin; fat cells in the hypodermis decline. As a result, the skin becomes looser, less elastic, and wrinkled. Change is more rapid in women than in men Hair From age 35: grays and thins Height From age 50: loss in bone strength leads to collapse of disks in the spinal column, leading to a height loss of as much as 2 inches by the 70s and 80s Weight Increases to age 50; declines from age 60 Weight changes reflects a rise in fat and a decline in muscle and bone mineral. Since muscle and bone are heavier than fat, the resulting pattern is weight gain followed by loss. Body fat accumulates on the torso and decreases on the extremities

teachers

Young adults preparing for or engaged in careers that require extensive education often report that teachers influenced their educational aspirations and career choice. - High school students who say that most of their teachers are caring and accessible, interested in their future, and demand that they work hard feel more confident about choosing a personally suitable career and succeeding at it - Teacher expectations mattered most for low-SES students.

vocational choice and selecting vocation

Young adults, college-bound or not, face a major life decision: the choice of a suitable work role. selecting vocation: -In societies with an abundance of career possibilities, occupational choice is a gradual process that begins early. -- The fantasy period: In early and middle childhood, children gain insight into career options by fantasizing about them -Their preferences, guided largely by familiarity, glamour, and excitement, bear little relation to the decisions they will eventually make. - The tentative period: Between ages 11 and 16, adolescents think about careers in more complex ways, at first in terms of their interests, and soon—as they become more aware of personal and educational requirements for different vocations—in terms of their abilities and values. "I like science and the process of discovery," Sharese thought as she neared high school graduation. "But I'm also good with people, and I'd like to do something to help others. So maybe teaching or medicine would suit my needs." - The realistic period: By the late teens and early twenties, with the economic and practical realities of adulthood just around the corner, young people start to narrow their options. - A first step is often further exploration—gathering more information about possibilities that blend with their personal characteristics. - In the final phase, crystallization, they focus on a general vocational category and experiment for a time before settling on a single occupation

Biological aging

_____________ _________ is the combined result of many causes, some operating at the level of DNA, others at the level of cells, and still others at the level of tissues, organs, and the whole organism

Cross-linkage theory of aging:

__________________________________ a theory of biological aging asserting that the formation of bonds, or links, between normally separate protein fibers causes the body's connective tissue to become less elastic over time, leading to many negative physical outcomes Cross-linking can be reduced by external factors, including regular exercise and a healthy diet

Once body structures reach maximum capacity and efficiency, biological aging, or senescence, begins:

genetically influenced declines in the functioning or organs and systems that are universal in all members of our species - The physical changes of the adult years are multidimensional and multidirectional

A host of contextual factors

including each person's genetic makeup, lifestyle, living environment, and historical period, can accelerate or slow age-related declines

selecting a mate

of their own age, level of education, ethnicity, and religion, or they connect through online dating services - People usually select partners who resemble themselves in other ways - Romantic partners sometimes have complementary personality traits, because this difference permits each to sustain their preferred style of behavior, it contributes to compatibility - Women assign greater weight to financial status, intelligence, ambition, and moral character, whereas men place more emphasis on physical attractiveness and domestic skills