Developmental Psychology 2400 Chapters 13-19

Describe the adulthood phase of the family life cycle, including marriage, divorce, parent-child relationships, and grandparenthood.

"Launching children and moving on" is the middle phase of the family life cycle. Adults must adapt as their children launch-return-relaunch, marry, and produce grandchildren, and as their own parents age and die. Compared to younger people, middle-aged adults seem to adjust more easily to divorce. Marital breakup often severely reduces women's standard of living, contributing to feminization of poverty. Most middle-aged parents adjust well to launching adult children, especially if positive parent-child relationships are sustained, but adult children who are able to give less tangible and intangible support to their adult children, and they must divide it among more offspring. As children marry, middle-aged parents, especially mothers, often become kinkeepers. Grandparents' relationships with grandchildren depend on proximity, number of grandchildren sets, sex of grandparent and grandchild, and in-law relationships. In low-income families and in some ethnic groups, grandparents provide essential child-rearing assistance. When serious family problems exist, grandparents may become primary caregivers in skipped-generation families. Middle-aged adults reassess their relationships with aging parents, often becoming more appreciative. Mother-daughter relationships tend to be closer than other parent -child ties. The more positive the history of the parent-child tie and the greater the need for assistance, the more help exchanged. Middle-aged adults often caught between caring for aging parents, assisting young adult children and grandchildren, and meeting work and community responsibilities, are called sandwich generation. The burden of caring for ill or frail parents falls most heavily on daughters, though the sex difference declines in later middle age. Parental caregiving has emotional and health consequences, especially in cultures and subcultures where adult children feel a particularly strong obligation to provide care. Social support is highly effective in reducing caregiver stress.

What are Levinson's and Vaillant's views of psychosocial development? What are some similarities and differences between men and women?

According to Levinson, middle-aged adults confront four developmental tasks requiring them to reconcile opposing tendencies: young-old, destruction-creation, masculinity-femininity, and engagement-separateness. Middle-aged men show greater acceptance of traits of nurturance and caring, while women are more open to characteristics of autonomy and assertiveness. Vaillant found that adults in their late fifties and sixties become guardians of their culture.

Discuss Robert Peck's and Joan Erikson's views of psychosocial development in late adulthood.

According to Robert Peck, attaining ego integrity involves three distinct tasks: ego differentiation, body transcendence, and ego transcendence. Joan Erikson believes these attainments represent an additional psychosocial stage, gerotranscendence, evident in inner calm and quiet reflection. More evidence, however, is needed to confirm this late-life stage.

How do young adults' friendships and sibling relationships influence psychological well-being?

Adult friendships like earlier friendships, are based on trust, intimacy, and loyalty. Women's same-sex friendships tend to be more intimate than men's. After marriage, other-sex friendships decline with age for men but increase for women, who often form them in the workplace. When family experiences have been positive, adult sibling relationships often resemble friendships.

What challenges do adults face in returning to college, in what ways can returning students be supported, and what benefits are associated with earning a degree in midlife?

Adult's returning to college and graduate school are more often women. Returning students must cope with a lack of recent practice at academic work; negative aging, gender, and ethnic stereotypes; and demands of multiple roles. Social support from family and friends and institutional services can help returning students succeed. Further education results in enhanced competencies, new relationships, intergenerational contact, and reshaped life paths.

Evaluate the extent to which homes and hospitals meet the needs of dying people and their families.

Although most people say they want to die at home, only about one-fourth of americans do. Evene with professional help and hospital-supplied equipment, caring for a dying patient in the home is highly demanding, Sudden deaths typically occur in hopsital emergency rooms, where sympathetic explanations from staff can reduce family members' anger, frustration, and confusion. Intensive care is especially depersonalizing for patients lingering between life and death while hooked to machines. Although hospital comprehensive treatment programs aimed at easing end-of-life suffering have increased over the past decade, about one-third of U.S. hospitals still do not have them.

What mental disabilities are associated with late adulthood?

Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, often starts with severe memory problems. It brings personality changes, depression, disintegration of purposeful movements, loss of ability to comprehend and produce speech, and death. Underlying these changes are abundant neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques and lowered neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Familial Alzheimer's, related to genes involved in generation of harmful amyloid, generally has an early onset and progresses rapidly. About half of sporadic Alzheimer's victims have an abnormal gene that results in insulin deficiency linked to brain damage. Diverse environmental factors, including a high-fat diet, physical inactivity, overweight and obesity, smoking, chronic depression, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and head injuries, increase the risk of Alzheimer's. A "Mediterranean diet," education, and an active lifestyle are associated with lower incidence. Better-educated people may develop a cognitive reserve that increases the aging brains' tolerance to injury. Heredity contributes to vascular dementia indirectly, through high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Because of their greater susceptibility to cardiovascular disease, more men than women are affected. Treatable problems, such as depression, side effects of medication, and reactions to social isolation, can be mistaken for dementia.

Discuss stability and change in "big five" personality traits in adulthood.

Among the "big five" personality traits, agreeableness and conscientiousness increase into middle age, while neuroticism declines, and extroversion and openness to experience do not change or decrease slightly. Although adults change in overall organization and integration of personality, they do so on a foundation of basic, enduring dispositions

Describe the process of grieving, factors that contribute to individual variations, and bereavement interventions.

Bereavement refers to the experience of losing a loved one by death, grief to the intense physical and psychological distress that accompanies loss. Mourning is the culturally prescribed expression of the bereaved person's thoughts and feelings. Most bereaved individuals recover within a few months to a year. About 5 to 15 percent experience complicated grief, severe, prolonged, distress, depression, and lack of acceptance of death. The grief process is best conceived as a set of tasks to overcome rather than a series of orderly phases. According to the dual-process model of coping with loss, effective coping involves oscillating between dealing with the emotional consequences of loss and attending to life changes, which can have restorative effects. Bereaved individuals who experience positive as well as negative emotions cope more effectively. Grieving is affected by many personal and situational factor. Bereaved men express grief less directly than bereaved women. After a sudden, unanticipated death, avoidance may be especially pronounced and confrontation highly traumatice. In contrast, a prolonged, expected death allows time for anticipatory grieving. When a parent loses a child or a child loses a parent or sibling, grieving is often intense and prolonged. Because early loss of a life partner is a nonnormative event with a major impact on life plans, younger widowed individuals usually fare less well than their older counterparts. Disenfranchised grief can profoundly disrupt the grief process. People who experience several deaths at once or in close succession may suffer from bereavement overload. Those at risk include aging adults and individuals who have lost loved ones to public tragedies. Sympathy and understanding are sufficient for most people to recover from grief. Support groups are highly effective in aiding recovery, whereas individually tailored approaches help mourners reorganize their daily lives. Interventions for children and adolescents following violent deaths must protect the from unnecessary reexposure and assist parents and teachers in offering comfort.

Discuss cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in middle adulthood, especially among men. Symptoms include high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, atherosclerosis, heart attack, arrhythmia, and angina pectoris. Quitting smoking, reducing blood cholesterol, exercising, and reducing stress can decrease risk and aid in treatment.

How does psychological stress affect health?(13)

Chronic psychological stress induces physical responses that contribute to cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer, and gastrointestinal problems. The challenges of early adulthood increase stress; young people can reduce stress by forming supportive social ties.

Discuss cohabitation.

Cohabitation has increased, becoming the preferred mode of entry into a committed intimate partnership for young people. Compared with their Western European counterparts, Americans who cohabit before marriage tend to be less committed to their partner, and their subsequent marriages are more likely to fail. U.S. lesbian and gay cohabiting couples are exceptions: Many are highly committed, with large numbers marrying after U.S. legalization of same-sex marriage.

What impact does a college education have on young people's lives?(13)

College students' explorations, both academic and nonacademic, yield gains in knowledge and reasoning ability, broadening of attitudes and values, enhanced self-understanding and self-esteem, and a firmer sense of identity.

Discuss factors that influence attitudes toward death, including death anxiety.

Compared with earlier generations, more young people reach adulthood having had little contact with death, contributing to a sense of unease about it. Wide individual and cultural variations exist in death anxiety. People with a sense of spirituality or a well-developed personal philosophy of death are less fearful, as are those with deep faith in a higher force or being. Older adults' greater ability to regulate negative emotion and their sense of symbolic immortality reduce death anxiety. Across cultures women exhibit more death anxiety than men.

How does thinking change in early adulthood?(13)

Continued fine-tuning of the prefrontal cognitive-control network, which achieves a better balance with the brain's emotional/social network, contributes to improvements in planning, reasoning, and decision making in early adulthood. As young people become proficient in their chosen field, specialized regions of the cerebral cortex undergo structural changes. Cognitive development beyond Piaget's formal operations is known as postformal thought. In early adulthood, personal effort and social experiences combine to spark increasingly rational, flexible, and practical ways of thinking. In Perry's theory of epistemic cognition, college students move from dualistic thinking, awareness of multiple truths. The most mature individuals progress to commitment within relativistic thinking, which synthesizes contradictions. Advances in epistemic cognition depend on gains in metacognition. Peer collaboration on challenging, ill-structured problems is especially beneficial. In Labouvie-Vief's theory, the need to specialize motivates adults to move from hypothetical to pragmatic thought, which uses logic as a tool for solving real-world problems and accepts contradiction, imperfection, and compromise. Adults' enhanced reflective capacities permit gains in cognitive-affective complexity--coordination of positive and negative feelings into a complex, organized structure.

How do continuity theory and socioemotional selectivity theory explain changes in older adults' social activity.

Continuity theory proposes that most aging adults strive to maintain consistency between their past and anticipated future. By engaging in familiar activities with familiar people and investing in longstanding, close relationships, older people sustain a consistent life path and network of social support. Socioemotional selectivity theory states that social networks become more selective with age. Older adults, who face a shortened future, emphasize the emotion-regulating function of interaction, preferring high-quality, emotionally fulfilling relationships.

What changes in crystallized and fluid intelligence occur in middle adulthood?

Crystallized intelligence, which depends on accumulated knowledge and experience, gains steadily through middle adulthood. In contrast, fluid intelligence which depends more on basic information-processing skills, begins to decline in the twenties. In the Seattle Longitudinal Study, perceptual speed undergoes a steady, continuous decline. But other fluid skills, in addition to crystallized abilities, increase through middle adulthood, confirming that midlife is a time of peak performance on a variety of complex abilities. Gains in certain intellectual skills by baby boomers relative to the previous generation reflect advances in education, technology, environmental, stimulation, and health care.

Explain how death education can help people cope with death more effectively.

Death education has been integrated into training for students and practitioners in diverse fields and for hospice volunteers. It can also be found in adult education programs. Goals include promoting understanding of end-of-life care options and important and social and ethical issues (such as advance medical directives and euthanasia), and of how lifespan development interacts with death, dying, and bereavement.

Describe changes in relationships in late adulthood including divorce remarriage, and widowhood, and discuss never- married, childless older adults.

Divorce in late life brings greater stress than for young people. Although older adults' remarriage rates are low, those who do remarry enter into more stable relationships. Increasingly, older couples in a new relationship choose cohabitation or "living apart together" as long-term alternatives to marriage. Adaptation to widowhood varies widely. Aging adults fare better than younger individuals, and women better than men. Efforts to maintain social ties, an outgoing personality, high self-esteem, and a sense of self-efficacy in handling tasks of daily living promote resilience. Most older adults who have remained unmarried and childless throughout their lives develop alternative meaningful relationships. Never-married childless women are better-adjusted than men, but both find social support.

What are the cohort effects on intelligence revealed by Schaie's Seattle Longitudinal Study?

Early cross-sectional research showed a peak in intelligence test performance at age 35 followed by a steep decline, whereas longitudinal evidence revealed modest gains in midlife. Using a sequential design, Shaie found that the cross-sectional, steep drop-off largely resulted from cohort effects, as each new generation experienced better health and education.

What are the benefits of stress management, exercise, and hardiness in dealing effectively with the physical changes of midlife ?

Effective stress management includes both problem-centered and emotion-centered coping, depending on the situation. In middle adulthood, people tend to cope with stress more effectively, often reporting lasting personal benefits. Regular exercise offers physical and psychological advantages, making it worthwhile for sedentary middle-aged people begin to exercising. Developing a sense of self-efficacy and having access to convenient, safe, and attractive exercise environments promote physical activity. Hardiness includes three personal qualities-- control, commitment, and challenge-- that motivate people to turn life's stressors into opportunities for resilience. A modest level of lifetime adversity seems to promote hardiness.

Describe and evaluate Kubler-Ross's theory, and cite factors that influence dying patients' responses.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross proposed that dying people typically express five responses: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These reactions do not occur in fixed sequence, and dying people often display other coping strategies. Still, Kubler-Ross convinced professionals and the general public that the dying are living people who usually have "unfinished needs" they want to address. The extent to which people attain an appropriate death depends on many contextual factors-- nature of the disease, personality and coping style, family members' and health professionals' behavior, and spirituality, religion, and cultural background.

Discuss end-of-life medical practices, along with ethical controversies surrounding them.

Ending life-sustaining treatment for terminally ill patients is widely accepted and practiced. People can best ensure that their wishes will be followed by preparing an advance medical directive. A living will contains instructions for treatment, whereas a durable power of attorney for health care names another person to make health-care decisions on one's behalf. Medical aid-in-dying is legal in five U.S. states, and public and physician support for it has recently increased. opponents worry that health-care financial pressures or coercion from others might affect patient requests. Because the final act is solely the patient's, many supporters believe that legalizing medical aid-in-dying is preferable to legalizing voluntary euthanasia. Although public support for voluntary euthanasia is high in North America and Western Europe, the practice remains a criminal offense in most countries and has sparked heated controversy, fueled by fears that it will be applied involuntarily to vulnerable people.

According to Erikson, how does personality change in late adulthood?

Erikson's final psychological conflict, ego integrity versus despair, involves coming to terms with one's life. Adults who arrive at a sense of integrity feel whole and satisfied with their achievements. Despair occurs when older people feel time is too short to attain integrity.

What challenges are associated with varied styles of parenthood, include stepparents, never-married parents, and lesbian and gay parents?

Establishing stepparent-stepchild ties is difficult, especially for stepmothers and for stepfathers without children of their own. Sensitive relationship-building by the stepparent, cooperation from the biological parent, and extended-family support promote positive stepparent-stepchild ties. Never-married single parenthood is especially high among African-American young women. Even with the help from extended family members, these mothers find it difficult to overcome poverty. Lesbian and gay parents are as effective at child rearing as heterosexual parents, and their children are as well-adjusted as those reared by heterosexual parents.

What are Levinson's and Vaillants psychosocial theories of adult personality development?(14

Expanding Erikson's stage approach, Levinson described a series of eras in which people revise their life structure. Young adults usually construct a dream, typically involving career for men and both marriage and career for women, and form a relationship with a mentor. In their thirties, mend tend to settle down, whereas many women remain unsettled. Also in the tradition of Erikson, Vaillant portrayed the twenties as devoted to intimacy, the thirties to career consolidation, the forties to strengthening generativity, the fifties and sixties to extending generativity in passing on cultural values, and late adulthood to reflecting on life's meaning. Young adults' development is far more variable today than Levinson's and Vaillant's theories depict.

What association do hostility and anger have with heart disease and other health problems?

Expressed hostility, a component of the Type A behavior pattern, predicts heart disease, Anger suppression is also related to health problems; a better alternative is to develop effective ways of handling stress and conflict.

What is the social clock, and how does it affect development in adulthood?(14)

Following a social clock--age-graded expectations for major life events-- grants confidence to young adults. Deviating from it can bring psychological distress. As age-related expectations have become increasingly flexible, departures from social-clock life events are common and can create intergenerational tensions.

What is sexuality in middle adulthood and how is it associated with relationship satisfaction?

Frequency of sexual activity among heterosexual couples declines modestly. Intensity of sexual response also diminishes, yet most married people over age 50 say that sex is an important part of a healthy couple relationship.

According to Erikson, how does personality change in middle age?

Generativity expands as middle-aged adults face Erikson's psychological conflict of generativity versus stagnation. Highly generative people appear especially well-adjusted. Stagnation occurs when midlifers become self-centered and self-indulgent.

What are the physical changes of aging? Pay special attention to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, motor performance, the immune system, and reproductive capacity.(13)

Gradual physical changes take place in early adulthood and later accelerate. Declines in heart and lung performance are evident during exercise. Heart disease is a leading cause of death in adults, although it has decreased since the mid-twentieth century due to lifestyle changes and medical advances. Athletic skills requiring speed, strength, and gross-motor coordination peak in the early twenties; those requiring endurance, arm-hand steadiness, and aiming peak in the late twenties and early thirties. Inactivity rather than biological aging is largely responsible for age-related declines in motor performance. The immune response declines after age 20 because of shrinkage of the thymus gland and increased difficulty coping with physical and psychological stress. Women's reproductive capacity declines with age due to reduced quality and quantity of ova. In men, semen volume and sperm motility decrease gradually after age 35, and the percentage of abnormal sperm rises.

What is influence do SES, nutrition, and exercise have on health? (13)

Health inequalities associated with SES increase in adulthood. Health-related circumstances and habits underlie these disparities. Some weight gain in adulthood reflects a decrease in basal metabolic rate(BMR), but many young adults add excess weight. Effective treatment includes a nutritious diet low in calories plus regular exercise, recording of food intake and body weight, social support, and teaching problem-solving skills. Regular exercise reduces body fat, builds muscle, fosters resistance to disease, and enhances cognitive functioning and psychological well-being.

What factors are related to cognitive maintenance and change in late adulthood?

Healthy, mentally active people are likely to maintain their cognitive abilities into advanced old age. Diverse chronic health conditions are associated with cognitive declines, With age, older adults' cognitive scores become increasingly unstable. As death approaches, terminal decline often occurs.

How does problem solving change in late life?

Hypothetical problem solving declines in late adulthood. In everyday problem solving, older adults are effective as long as they perceive problems as under their control and as important. Older people make faster decisions about health than younger people and often consult others about everyday problems.

What are some physical disabilities associated with late adulthood?

Illness and disability increase toward the end of life, Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death, followed by respiratory diseases. Primary aging contributes to frailty, but secondary aging (declines due to hereditary defects and negative environmental influences) plays a larger role. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis increase among older adults, especially women, Type 2 diabetes also rises. The death rate from unintentional injuries reaches an all-time high from age 65 on, largely due to motor vehicle collisions and falls. Declines in physical and cognitive functioning contribute.

According to Erikson what personality changes take place during early adulthood?(14)

In Erikson's theory, young adults must resolve the conflict of intimacy versus isolation as they form a close relationship with a partner. The negative outcome is loneliness and self-absorption. Young people also focus on aspects of generativity, including parenting and contributions to society through work and community service.

What occurs in emotional and social development during emerging adulthood? What are some cultural influences and individual variations?(14)

In emerging adulthood, many young people do not view themselves as fully adult. Rather, those with economic resources engage in extended exploration of alternatives in education, work, and personal values. Identity development continues into the college years, with young people exploring in depth and revisiting commitments that fit poorly with their talents and potentials. Many emerging adults express a strong commitment to improving their communities, nation, and world, and large numbers participate in community service. Nevertheless, compared with older people, they vote in fewer numbers. During the late teens and twenties. religious attendance declines, continuing the trend that was under way in adolescence, though women and ethnic minority young people express greater religiosity. Regardless of religious participation, many emerging adults begin to construct an individualized faith. Those who are religious or spiritual tend to be better adjusted. Increased education required for entry-level jobs, gains in economic prosperity, and reduced need for young people's labor in industrialized nations have prompted the appearance of emerging adulthood. But because of its strong association with SES and higher education, some researchers do not view emerging adulthood as a distinct stage of development. A sizable number of emerging adults flounder, suffering from lack of direction and engaging in high levels of risky behaviors. But most young people with access to the opportunities of emerging adulthood experience it as a time of flourishing. A wide array of personal attributes and social supports, especially a warm, autonomy-supportive relationship with parents, foster resilience.

How do sibling relationships and friendships change in late life?

In late adulthood, aging siblings typically live nearby, communicate regularly, and visit at least several times a year. In case of other family members cannot provide social support, siblings are an important "insurance policy." Late-life friendships serve diverse functions: intimacy and companionships, a shield against negative judgements, a link to the larger community, and protection from the psychological consequences of loss. Older adults prefer established same-sex friendships, and women, more than men, have both intimate friends and secondary friends, with whom they spend time occasionally.

What factors contribute to high rates of divorce and remarriage?

Maladaptive communication patterns, younger ages at marriage, a family history of divorce, low education, economic disadvantage, and American individualism all contribute to divorce. Remarriages are especially vulnerable to breakup. Reasons include emphasis on practical concerns in the decision to remarry, the persistence of negative patterns of communication, the acceptance of divorce as a solution to marital difficulties, and problems adjusting to a stepfamily.

What changes in self-concept, personality, and gender identity occur in middle adulthood?

In middle age, possible selves become fewer in number as well as more modest and concrete. Balanced possible selves enhance motivation to attain self-relevant goals. Midlife typically brings enhanced psychological well-being through greater self-acceptance, autonomy, and environmental mastery. Daily stressors plateau in early to mid-adulthood, and then decline as work and family responsibilities ease. Midlife gains in emotional stability and confidence in handling life's problems lead to increased effectiveness in coping with stressors. But some midlifers are overwhelmed by intense stress, as indicated by the rise in U.S. suicides during middle age. In earlier research, both men and women became more androgynous in middle adulthood, due to a combination of social roles and life conditions. This rise in androgyny seems to have spread to other age periods in response to cultural changes favoring gender equality.

Discuss the influence of control versus dependency on older adults' psychological well-being.

In patterns of behavior called the dependency - support script and the independence - support script, older adults' dependency behaviors are attended to immediately while their independent behaviors are ignored. Permitting older adults to select areas in which they desire help enables them to use their capacities fully in pursuit of their goals and creates an effective person-environment fit, which fosters psychological well-being.

What types of continuing education programs are there and what benefits are associated with such programs?

Increasing numbers of older people continue their education through university courses, community offerings, and other programs. Participants acquire new knowledge and skills, new friends, a broader perspective on the world, and an image of themselves as more competent.

What overall changes in cognitive functioning occur in late adulthood?

Individual differences in cognitive functioning are greater in late adulthood than at any other time of life. Older adults can make the most of their cognitive resources through selective optimization with compensation. Personal goals increasingly emphasize maintaining abilities and preventing losses.

What changes in language processing occur in late adulthood?

Language comprehension changes little in late life. Age-related losses occur in two aspects of language production: retrieving words from long-term memory and planning what to say and how to say it in everyday conversation. Older people compensate by speaking more slowly and using shorter sentences. Aging adults are advantaged in narrative competence.

How does memory change in late life?

Memory failure increases with age, especially on explicit memory tasks, which require controlled, strategic processing. Recall of context, source, and temporal order of episodic events declines. Automatic forms of memory, such as recognition and implicit memory, suffer less. In general, an associative memory deficit characterizes older adults' memory difficulties. Contrary to what older people often report, remote memory is not clearer than recent memory. Remote memory is best for events that occurred between ages 10 and 30, a period of heightened autobiographical recall called the reminiscence bump. In the laboratory, older adults do better on event-based than on time-- based prospective memory task. In everyday life, they compensate for declines in prospective memory by using external memory aids.

What are some patterns in career development and cite difficulties faced by women, ethnic minorities, and dual-earner couples?

Men's career paths are usually continuous whereas women's are often interrupted by family needs. Once young adults settle into an occupation, their progress is affected by opportunities for promotion, the broader economic environment, and access to effective mentors. Women and ethnic minorities have penetrated most professions, but their career advancement has been hampered by time away from the labor market, low self-efficacy with respect to male-dominated fields, lack of mentoring, and gender-stereotypes. Racial and ethnic bias remains strong. Ethnic minority women who succeed display an unusually high sense of self-efficacy. Employed parents often experience role overload, which can be greatly reduced by workplace supports such as time-flexible policies. Effectively balancing work and family enhances standard of living, psychological well-being, marital happiness, and work-performance.

How do practical problem solving, expertise, and creativity develop in middle adulthood?

Middle-aged adults display continued growth in practical problem solving, largely due to gains in expertise. Creativity becomes more deliberately thoughtful and often shifts from generating unusual products to integrating ides, and from concern with self-expression to more altruistic goals.

Discuss job satisfaction and career development in middle adulthood, with special attention to gender differences and experiences of ethnic minorities.

Middle-aged people seek to increase the personal meaning and self-direction of their work lives. Job satisfaction increases at all occupational levels, more so for men than women. Burnout is a serious occupational hazard, especially for those in helping professions. It can be prevented by ensuring by ensuring reasonable workloads, limiting hours of stressful work, and providing workers with social support. Both personal and workplace characteristics influence older workers' engagement in career development. In companies with a more favorable age climate, mature employees report greater self-efficacy, work commitment, and job satisfaction. Women and ethnic minorities face a glass ceiling because of limited access to management training and prejudice against women who demonstrate leadership qualities. Many women, including ethnic minorities, further their careers by leaving the corporate world, often to start their own businesses.

What is the double standard of aging?

Middle-aged women are more likely than their male counterparts to be viewed unfavorably, especially by men.

What changes occur in careers in middle adulthood?

Midlife career change typically involves leaving one line of work for a related one. Radical career change often signals a personal crisis. Among blue-collar workers, midlife career shifts are seldom freely chosen.

What problems do U.S. non-college bound young people face in preparing for a vocation?(13)

Most U.S. non-college bound high school graudates are limited to low-paid, unskilled jobs, and many are unemployed. Work-study apprenticeships, like those widely available in Europe, would improve the transition from school to work for these young people.

What are the sexual attitudes and behaviors of young adults?(13)

Most adults are less sexually active than media images suggest, but they display a wider range of sexual choices and lifestyles and have had more sexual partners than earlier generations. The internet has become a popular way to initiate relationships. Adults in committed relationships report high satisfaction with their sex lives. Only a minority report persistent sexual problems--difficulties linked to biological factors and to low SES and psychological stress. Attitudes toward same-sex couples have become more accepting. Same-sex partners, like heterosexual partners, tend to be similar in education and background and more satisfied in committed relationships

Discuss health and iftness in late life, paying special attention to nutrition, exercise, and sexuality.

Most older adults rate their health favorably and have a high sense of self-efficacy about protecting it. Low-SES ethnic minority older people remain at greater risk for certain health problems and are less likely to believe they can control their health. In late life, men continue to be more prone to fatal diseases and women to disabling conditions. In industrialized nations, compression of morbidity has occurred, largely as a result of medical advances and improved socioeconomic conditions; further gains will depend on reducing negative lifestyle factors. In the developing world, broad strategies are needed. Risk of dietary deficiencies increases in late life. Exercise, even when begun in late adulthood, is a powerful health intervention. Though sexual activity declines, especially among women, most married older adults report continued, regular sexual enjoyment.

Discuss implications of the positivity effect and reminiscence for older adults' lives.

Most older people display a positivity effect-- a bias toward emotionally positive information--likely because they have become expert in emotional self regulation. Reminiscence about one's past can be positive and adaptive for older people. But many well-adjusted older adults spend little time seeking greater self-understanding through life review. Rather, they are largely present- and future-oriented, seeking opportunities for personal fulfillment.

Discuss sexual coercion.(13)

Most rape victims are women under age 25 who have been harmed by men they know well. Personal characteristics of perpetrators and cultural acceptance of strong gender typing and of violence contribute to sexual coercion. Although less often reported and recognized by authorities, men are also victims. Rape survivors experience extreme trauma.

Describe older adults' relationships with adult children.

Older adults are often in touch with their adult children, who more often provide emotional support than direct assistance. Aging parents who provide more help than they receive score highest in life satisfaction. Though typically mild, ambivalent feelings toward adult children undermine psychological well-being.

What changes in the sensory system occur in late adulthood?

Older adults tend to suffer from impaired vision and may experience cataracts and macular degeneration. Hearing impairments are more common than visual impairments, with decline in speech perception having the greatest impact on life satisfaction. Taste and odor sensitivity wane, making food less appealing. Touch sensitivity also deteriorates.

Discuss the meaning of successful aging.

Older adults who experience successful aging minimize losses and maximize gains, enabling realization of individual potential. Societal contexts that permit older adults to manage life changes-- including well-funded social security plans, good health care, safe housing, diverse social services, and opportunities for lifelong learning-- foster aging well.

What are some current theories of biological aging , both at the level of Dna and body cells and at the the level of tissues and organs?(13)

Once body structures reach maximum capacity and efficiency in the teens and twenties, biological aging, or senescence begins. The programmed effects of specific genes may control certain age-related biological changes. For example, telomere shortening results in senescent cells, which contribute to disease and loss of function. DNA may also be damaged as random mutations accumulate, leading to less efficient cell repair and replacement and to abnormal cancerous cells. Release of free radicals, once thought to be a major contributor to age-related DNA and cellular damage, may instead activate DNA repair systems within the cells, thereby lengthening life. The cross-linkage theory of aging suggests that over time, protein fibers form links and become less elastic, producing negative changes in many organs. Declines in the endocrine and immune systems may also contribute to aging.

Does the term midlife crisis reflect the typical experience of middle adulthood?

Only a minority of midlifers experience a midlife crisis, leading to drastic life alterations. Life regrets, associated with less favorable well-being, but can also prompt corrective action.

What health-care issues affect older adults?

Only a small percentage of older Americans are institutionalized, less than half the rates in other Western nations with more generous public financing of institutional care. Though ethnic differences exist, family members provide most long-term care in Western nations. Publicly funded-in-home help and assisted living can reduce the high costs of nursing home placement and increase older adults' life satisfaction.

Discuss osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis affects 10 percent of people age 50 and older, primarily women. Adequate calcium and vitamin D, weight-bearing exercise, resistance training, and bone-strengthening medications can help prevent and treat osteoporosis.

Describe changes in physical appearance and mobility in late adulthood, along with effective adaptations to these changes.

Outward signs of aging-- white hair, wrinkled and sagging skin, age spots, and decreased height and weight--become more noticeable. Mobility diminishes as muscle and bone strength and joint flexibility decline. High sense of personal control, which is linked to problem-centered coping strategies, yields improved physical functioning. Assistive technology helps order people cope with physical declines, sustaining an effective person-environment fit that enhances psychological well-being. Negative stereotypes of aging have a stressful, disorganizing impact on older adults' functioning, whereas positive stereotypes reduce stress and foster physical and mental competence.

Distinguish between chronological age and functional age, and discuss changes in life expectancy since the beginning of the twentieth century.

People age biologically at different rates, making chronological age an imperfect indicator of functional age. Dramatic gains in average life expectancy confirm that biological aging can be modified by environmental factors, including improved nutrition, medical treatment, sanitation, and safety. Length of life and, especially, average healthy life expectancy can be predicted by a country's health care. housing, and social services, along with lifestyle factors. With advanced age, the gender gap in average life expectancy declines, as do differences between European Americans and African Americans. Longevity runs in families, but environmental factors become increasingly important after age 75 to 80. Scientists disagree on whether maximum lifespan can be extended.

Discuss the problem with dropping out.(13)

Personal and institutional factors contribute to college dropout, which is more common in less selective colleges and among ethnic minority students from low SES families. High-risk students benefit from interventions that show concern for them as individuals.

Discuss the influence of physical health and negative life changes on adults' psychological well-being.

Physical declines and chronic disease can lead to a loss of personal control and high risk for late-life depression. People ages 85 and older have the highest suicide rates of all age groups. Although aging adults are at risk for a variety of negative life changes, these events evoke less stress and depression in older than in younger people. But when negative changes pile up, they test older adults' coping skills.

Discuss singlehood.

Postponement of marriage has contributed to a rise in singlehood. Despite an array of drawbacks, singles typically appreciate their freedom and mobility.

Describe cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune system changes and sleep difficulties in late adulthood.

Reduced capacity of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems becomes more apparent in late adulthood. making high physical activity more taxing. The immune system functions less effectively in late life, increasing the risk of illnesses and making autoimmune responses and stress-induced infection more likely. Older adults find it harder to fall asleep, stay asleep, and sleep deeply. Timing of sleep shifts toward earlier bedtime and morning wakening.

Why is planning for retirement important?

Retirement brings major life changes, including loss of income and status and increased freetime. Besides financial planning, preparing for an active retirement is vital, with a strong impact on happiness. Low-paid workers and women need extra encouragement to engage in retirement planning.

What are some factors affecting mate selection what are the components of romantic love, and what are the changing forms of love as relationships develop. Note cultural variations.

Romantic partners tend to resemble each other in age, education level, ethnicity, religion, and various personal and physical attributes. According to an evolutionary perspective, women seek a mate with traits that help ensure children's survival, while men look for characteristics signaling sexual pleasure and ability to bear offspring. From an alternative perspective, gender roles, jointly influenced by evolutionary and cultural pressures, influence criteria for mate selection. According to Sternberg's triangular theory of love, the balance among passion, intimacy, and commitment in romantic ties changes over time. As passionate love gives way to companionate love and compassionate love, relationships become more intimate, committed, satisfying, and long-lasting. Rather than romantic love, Eastern cultures emphasize dependency and family obligation in lifelong partnerships. Many arranged marriages succeed, with couples reporting that commitment helped strengthen their love.

Discuss obesity in adulthood.(13)

Sedentary lifestyles and diets high in sugar and fat have contributed to the U.S. overweight and obesity epidemic. Excess weight is associated with serious health problems, social discrimination, and early death.

Describe midlife relationships and friendships.

Sibling contact and support decline from early to middle adulthood, but many middle-aged siblings feel closer, often in response to major life events. Past and current parental favoritism influences the quality of sibling bonds. In midlife, friendships become fewer and more selective. Men's friendships continue to be less intimate than those of women, who have more close friendships.

Discuss the influence of social support on older adults' psychological well-being.

Social support promotes physical health and psychological well-being, but excessive assistance or help that cannot be returned often interferes with self-efficacy and amplifies psychological stress. Perceived social support, rather than sheer amount of help, is associated with a positive outlook.

Discuss elder maltreatment, including risk factors, consequences, and prevention strategies.

Some older adults suffer maltreatment at the hands of family members, friends, or professional caregivers. Risk factors include a dependent perpetrator-victim relationship, perpetrator psychological disturbance, a history of family violence, and inadequate institutional conditions. All victims' physical and mental health. Elder-abuse prevention programs provide counseling, education, and respite services for caregivers. Trained volunteers and support groups can help victims avoid future harm. Societal efforts that encourage reporting of suspected cases and increase understanding of older people's needs are also vital.

What roles do expertise and creativity play in adult thought?(13)

Specialization in college and in an occupation leads to expertise, which is necessary for both problem solving and creativity. Although creativity tends to rise in early adulthood and to peak in the late thirties or early forties, its development varies across disciplines and individuals. Diverse personal and situational factors jointly promote creativity.

How does information-processing change in midlife?

Speed of cognitve processing slows with age. According to one view, deteriorating neuronal connections, due to myelin breakdown, reduce reaction time. Another approach suggests that older adults experience greater loss of information as it moves through the cognitive system, resulting in slower processing. As processing speed slows, people perform less well on memory, reasoning, and problem-solving tasks, especially fluid-ability items. But other factors also predict age-related cognitive performances. Executive function declines with age: working memory diminishes, and inhibition and flexible shifting of attention become more challenging. Compared with younger individuals, older adults less often use memory strategies, resulting in decreased recall of studied information. But training, improved design of tasks, and metacognitive knowledge enable older adults to compensate for age-related decrements.

How do communities, neighborhoods and housing arrangements affect older adults' social lives and adjustment?

Suburban older adullts have higher incomes and report better health than their inner-city counterparts, but the latter benefit from access to public transportation. Small-town and rural aging adults, who are less likely to live near their children, compensate by interacting more with nearby relatives , neighbors, and friends. Living in neighborhoods with like-minded older people promotes life satisfaction. Most older people prefer aging in place, but for those with health and mobility problems, independent living poses risks, and many older adults who live alone are poverty-stricken. Residential settings providing assisted living include independent living communities, which offer a variety of hotel-like support services, and life-care communities, which include a range of housing alternatives guaranteeing that residents' changing needs will be met as they age. The small number of U.S. older adults living in nursing homes experience extreme restriction of autonomy and low social interaction. Homelike nursing homes that achieve an effective person-environment fit foster late -life well-being.

Describe the physical changes of dying, along with their implications for defining death and the meaning of death with dignity.

Thanatology, the study of death and dying has expanded dramatically over the past three decades. As a result of life-saving technology, death is long and drawn-out for three-fourths of people--many more than in times past. Of those who die suddenly, 65 to 85 percent are victims of heart attacks. Dying typically takes place in three phases: the agonal phase, in which regular heartbeat disintegrates; clinical death, a short interval in which resuscitation is still possible; and mortality, or permanent death. In most industrialized nations, brain death is accepted as the definition of death. But for incurable patients who remain in a persistent vegetative state, the brain death standard does not solve the problem of when to halt treatment. We can best ensure death with dignity by providing dying patients with the utmost in humane and compassionate care, being candid about death's certainty, and helping them learn enough about their condition to make reasoned choices about treatment.

Cite stable and changing aspects of self-concept and personality, and discuss spirituality and religiosity in late adulthood.

The "big five" personality traits remain stable from mid- to late life. Older adults' accumulation of a lifetime of self-knowledge leads to more secure, multifaceted self-concepts. Those who continue to pursue hoped- for possible selves gain in life satisfaction. Gains in agreeableness and acceptance of change foster resilience, and engaging in cognitively challenging activities promotes openness to experience. The late-life increase in religiosity is usually modest and is not universal. For many, religiosity is stable throughout adulthood. Faith and spirituality may become more reflective, accepting uncertainty and emphasizing links to others. Religious involvement is especially high among low-SES ethnic minority older people and women is linked to better physical and psychological well-being and longer surviival.

What reproductive changes occur in both sexes and what emotional and physical symptoms are associated?

The climacteric in women, which occurs gradually as estrogen production drops and concludes with menopause, is often accompanied by physical and emotional symptoms including hot flashes and depressive episodes. Hormone therapy can reduce the discomforts of menopause, but its use increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and dementia. In men quantity of semen diminishes, and more stimulation is required for and erection. Drugs are available to combat impotence.

Discuss cancer.

The death rate multiplies tenfold from early to middle adulthood. Heredity, biological-aging, and environment all contribute to cancer. Today 6o percent of affected individuals are cured. Regular screenings and various preventive steps can reduce the incidence of cancer and cancer deaths.

Discuss the decision to retire, adjustment to retirement, and involvement in leisure and volunteer activities.

The decision to retire depends on diverse factors, including affordability, health status, nature of the work environment, opportunities to pursue meaningful activities, and societal retirement policies. Factors affecting adjustment to retirement include satisfactions previously derived from work, sense of personal control over life events, social support, and marital happiness. Meaningful leisure and volunteer pursuits are typically sustained or expanded during retirement. Involvement is related to better physical and mental health and to reduced mortality.

What physical changes related to vision and hearing take place in middle adulthood?

The gradual physical changes begun in early adulthood continue in midlife, contributing to a revised physical self-image, with less emphasis on hoped-for gains and more on feared declines. Vision is affected by presbyopia(loss of the accommodative ability of the lens), reduced vision in dim light, increased sensitivity to glare, and diminished color discrimination. Risk of glaucoma increases. Age-related hearing loss, or presbycusis, begins with a decline in detection of high frequencies and then spreads to other tones. The ability to distinguish sounds occurring in close succession also recedes, and eventually, human speech becomes harder to decipher.

What physical changes in muscle fat-makeup and the skeleton occur in middle adulthood?

The skin wrinkles, loosens, dries, and develops age spots. Muscle mass declines and fat deposits increase. Reduced caloric intake and regular exercise, including resistance training, can offset both excess weight and muscle loss. Bone density declines, especially in women after menopause. Height loss and bone fractures can result.

Describe changes in relationships in late adulthood, including marriage, and lesbian and gay partnerships.

The social convoy is an influential model of changes in individuals' social networks as they move through life. Asties are lost, aging adults seek ways to maintain gratifying relationships and cultivate new ones, though not as many as they did at younger ages. Paths of late-life marital satisfaction are diverse and depend on such factors as shared activities and financial difficulties. Married older people usually have larger social networks linked to psychological well-being and good health. Most lesbian and gay older couples also report happy, highly fulfilling relationships. Compared with couples not in a legally recognized relationship, those who are married are advantaged in physical and psychological well-being.

Evaluate the extent to which nursing homes and the hospice approach meet the needs of dying people and their families.

Though deaths in U.S. nursing homes are common, too often residents' end-of-life preferences are not followed. The hospice approach is a comprehensive program of support services that focuses on meeting the dying person's physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs and providing palliative, or comfort, care rather than prolonging life. Hospice also contributes to improved family functioning and better psychological well-being among family survivors.

What are the most commonly abused substances, and what health risks do they pose?(13)

Tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol are the most commonly abused substances. Cigarette smokers. most of whom began before age 21, are at increased risk for many health problems, including decline in bone mass, heart attack, stroke, and numerous cancers. Both heredity and environment contribute to alcoholism. Alcohol is implicated in liver and cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and other physical disorders, motor vehicle fatalities, and sexual coercion.

What outcomes of interventions are aimed at helping older adults sustain cognitive skills?

Training in cognitive skills can offer large, persisting benefits for older people who have experienced cognitive declines. Community programs in the participatory arts also yield cognitive gains.

How does vocational choice develop and what factors influence it?(13)

Vocational choice moves through a fantasy period, in which children explore career options by fantasizing about them; a tentative period in which teenagers evaluate careers in terms of their interests, abilities, and values; and a realistic period, in which young people settle on a vocational category and then a specific occupation. Vocational choice is influenced by personality; parents' provision of educational opportunities, vocational information, and encouragement; and close relationships with teachers who hold high educational expectations. Women's progress in male-dominated professions has been slow, and their achievements lag behind those of men in virtually all fields. Gender-stereotyped messages play a key role.

Discuss childlessness.

Voluntarily childless adults tend to be highly educated, career-oriented, and content with their lives. But involuntary childlessness interferes with adjustment and life satisfaction.

What are the phases of the family life cycle that are prominent in early adulthood? Cite factors that influence these phases today.

Wide variations exist in the sequence and timing of the family life cycle. Delayed home-leaving has occurred in most industrialized nations. Departures generally occur earlier for education than for full-time work or marriage; role transitions and financial circumstances often prompt a move back. Parents of young adults living at home are usually highly committed to helping their children move into adult roles. The average age of first marriage in the U.S. and Western Europe has risen. Same-sex marriages are recognized nationwide in 20 countries, including the U.S. Both traditional marriages and egalitarian marriages are affected by women's participation in the workforce. Women in western nations spend nearly twice as much time as men on housework, although men participate much more in child care than in the past. Women experiencing role overload feel particularly dissatisfied with their marriages. Equal sharing of family responsibilities enhances both partners' satisfaction. The transition to parenthood brings increased responsibilities, often prompting a shift to more traditional roles. After the birth of a second child, this may reverse. Gratifying marriages tend to remain so after childbirth, but troubled marriages usually become more distressed. Shared caregiving predicts greater parental happiness and positive parent-infant interaction. Couples with young children who engage in effective coparenting are more likely to have children who are developing well and to gain in marital satisfaction. Parents of adolescents must establish revised relationships with their increasingly autonomous teenagers. Marital satisfaction often declines in this phase.

What capacities make up wisdom, and how is it affected by age and life experience?

Wisdom involves extensive practical knowledge, ability to reflect on and apply that knowledge in ways that make life more bearable and worthwhile, emotional maturity, and altruistic creativity. When age and relevant life experience are combined, more older than younger people rank among the wise. Having faced and overcome adversity appears to contribute to late-life wisdom.

What physical declines and changes in the nervous system take place in late adulthood?

With age, growing numbers of older adults experience physical declines, evident in difficulties carrying out activities of daily living (ADLs), or basic self-care tasks, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), which are necessary to conduct the business of daily life. Neuron loss occurs throughout the cerebral cortex, with greater shrinkage in the frontal lobes, especially the prefrontal cortex, and the corpus callosum. The cerebellum and the hippocampus also lose neurons. The brain compensates by forming new synapses and, to a limited degree, generating new neurons. The autonomic nervous system functions less well and releases more stress hormones.