Psychology and human development Lecture 12 Physical Cognitive

Psychology and human development Lecture 12 Physical, Cognitive and Psychosocial Development in Middle Adulthood

Changing Midlife Boundaries of middle age are being pushed upward More people lead healthier lifestyles; medical discoveries are holding off the aging process Middle age is starting later and lasting longer Midlife serves as an important preparation for late adulthood An increasing percentage of the population is made up of middleaged and older adults “Rectangularization” of the age distribution

Physical Changes: Usually gradual; aging rates vary Wrinkling and sagging of skin, age spots, thinning gray hair, thicker brittle nails, yellowing of teeth Sarcopenia: age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, specially common in the back and legs -- exercise can reduce these declines Height tends to shrink in middle age, due to bone loss in the vertebrae Cushions for bone movement become less efficient, often leading to joint stiffness and difficulty in movement Many gain weight, which is a critical health problem in middle adulthood Progressive bone loss

Physical Changes Ability to focus and maintain an image declines between 40– 59 years • Difficulty viewing close objects • Reduced blood supply decreases visual field Hearing can start to decline by age 40 • Hearing loss occurs in up to 50% of individuals over the age of 50 • High-pitched sounds are typically lost first

PHYSICAL CHANGES • Blood pressure typically rises in the 40’s and 50’s • At menopause, a woman’s blood pressure rises sharply, remaining higher than that of men into the later years • Metabolic Syndrome: a condition characterized by hypertension, obesity, and insulin resistance • Exercise, weight control, and a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can help to reduce many cardiovascular problems © 2009 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Health and Disease Frequency of accidents declines Individuals are less susceptible to colds and allergies Stress is a key factor in disease, especially if cumulative Immune system functioning decreases with normal aging Link between stress and cardiovascular disease can be indirect Ni-Hon-San Study • Stress can lead to unhealthy lifestyle choices • Chronic emotional stress is associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, and early death Culture plays an important role in coronary disease • Immigration modifies healthy practices even as genetic predispositions remain constant

MORTALITY RATES Chronic diseases are the main cause of death during middle adulthood Heart disease Cancer Cerebrovascular disease In the 1 st half of middle age, cancer claims more lives than heart disease; trend is reversed during the 2 nd half of middle age Men have higher mortality rates than women © 2009 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Development Crystallized Intelligence: an individual’s accumulated information and verbal skills § Continues to increase in middle adulthood Fluid Intelligence: the ability to reason abstractly § May begin to decline in middle adulthood Some cognitive functions peak during middle adulthood, while others decline § Depends on how studies are conducted • Cross-sectional studies show more decline than longitudinal studies Starting in late middle age, more time is needed to learn new information Linked to changes in working memory

Generativity vs. Stagnation Erikson’s Generativity vs. Stagnation (40 -65): • Generativity: adults’ desire to leave legacies of themselves to the next generation • Stagnation: develops when individuals sense that they have done nothing for the next generation • Research supports Erikson’s theory

Religion and Adult Lives More than 70% of middle-aged adults are religious and consider spirituality a major part of their lives Role of individual differences Increase in spirituality tends to occur between late middle adulthood and late adulthood Women have consistently shown a stronger interest in religion than males Religious commitment helps to moderate blood pressure and hypertension and is associated with increased longevity

RELIGION AND ADULT LIVES Baumeister has argued that the quest for the meaning of life may be understood in terms of four main needs: • • Need for purpose Need for values Need for a sense of efficacy Need for self-worth © 2009 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

STAGES OF ADULTHOOD How pervasive are midlife crises? • Vaillant’s “Grant Study”: • The 40’s are a decade of reassessing and recording the truth about the adolescent and adult years • Only a minority of adults experience a midlife crisis • Reports of general well-being and life satisfaction tend to be high during mid-life • Another study found that 26% of adults experienced a midlife crisis • Most attributed this to negative life events rather than aging • Adult developmental experts generally agree that midlife crises have been exaggerated © 2009 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

STABILITY AND CHANGE • The Baltimore Study used the big five factors of personality to study 1, 000 college-educated persons aged 20 to 96 starting from the 1950 s and continuing today: • Considerable stability in the five personality factors • Agreeableness and conscientiousness increased in early and middle adulthood • Neuroticism decreased in early adulthood • Openness to experience increased in adolescence/early adulthood and then decreased in late adulthood © 2009 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

STABILITY AND CHANGE Vaillant’s Studies: conducted three longitudinal studies from the 1920 s through today: • Alcohol abuse and smoking at age 50 was the best predictor of death between ages 75 and 80 • Factors at age 50 which are best predictors of “happy-well” between ages 75 and 80: • Regular exercise and avoiding being overweight • Well-educated and future oriented • Having a stable marriage and good coping skills • Being thankful, forgiving, and empathetic • Being active with other people

Love and Marriage Romantic love is typically strong in early adulthood Affectionate love increases during middle adulthood Most married individuals are satisfied with their marriages during midlife Divorce in midlife can be less intense due to increased resources and lessened child-rearing responsibilities • However, emotional and time commitment to a long-lasting marriage is typically not given up easily • Staying married because of the children is a common reason for waiting to get a divorce

The Empty Nest • Empty Nest Syndrome: a decline in marital satisfaction after the children leave the home • For most parents, marital satisfaction actually increases during the years after child rearing • Refilling of empty nest is becoming a common occurrence • Adult children are returning to live at home for financial reasons • Loss of privacy is a common complaint for both parents and adult children

Grandparenting Many adults become grandparents during middle age • Grandmothers have more contact with grandchildren than grandfathers Three prominent meanings: • Source of biological reward and continuity • Source of emotional selffulfillment • Remote role The grandparent role and its functions vary among families, ethnic groups, and cultures

GRANDPARENTING Three Grandparenting Styles: • Fun-seeking style • Distant-figure style • Formal style An increasing number of U. S. grandchildren live with their grandparents • 2. 3 million in 1980; 6. 1 million in 2005 • Most common reasons are divorce, adolescent pregnancies, and parental drug use • Tends to be more stressful for younger grandparents, when grandchildren have physical and psychological problems, and when there is low family cohesion © 2009 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Intergenerational Relationships Differences in gender: • Mothers and daughters have closer relationships during their adult years than mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, and fathers and sons • Married men are more involved with their wives’ families than with their own • Maternal aunts and grandmothers are cited as the most important or loved relative twice as often as their paternal counterparts