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LifespanDevOnlineMiddleandLateAdulthoodFall2022.pptMiddle and Late Adulthood
Allow time to have fun and do a great job on your assignments.
Defining adulthood
- Middle adulthood = 35-60/65 years old
- Late (older) adulthood = 65 years and older
Other terms given to subgroups in this span
60-80 = young-old
80-90 = older-old/old-old
90+ = oldest-old
Brainstorming
- What are significant changes that occur in middle adulthood? (your list should be long)
Physical
Psychological
Cognitive
- What are significant changes that occur in late adulthood? (your list should be longer!)
Physical
Psychological
Cognitive
The non-traditional student
- What is a “nontraditional” college student?
- Why go (back) to college?
- How is a returning adult student similar and in what ways are they different from traditional students?
Stress
- Research: Higher stress in middle adulthood than late adulthood
- What accounts for the higher level of stress experienced for middle-aged adults as compared to older adults?
Stress
- What effects does stress have on the individual?
Physical health
Mental health
Research on health
- High levels of hostility increase chance of all disease (e.g., *heart disease, cancer)
- Type A personality = more hostility
*
Stress & resistance to disease
- Indirect effects?
- Direct effects: Psychophysiological illnesses
physiological effects of psychological states
hypertension, headaches
Immune system suppression and illness
Prolonged stress hippocampus shrinks
What can be done to limit stress or deal with stress?
Erikson’s Eight Stages of Man
- Erikson’s stages: Last stages
Generativity Versus Stagnation
- Middle adulthood
- Active involvement in raising children
About mid 20’s to mid 50’s
- Generativity = extension of love into the future (productivity)
Kids, career… teaching, writing, invention, arts, sciences, social activism
Generativity Versus Stagnation
- Stagnation = self-absorption, not contributing
- Midlife crisis… What am I doing this for? What about me??
Integrity Versus Despair
- Late adulthood
- About retirement/kids are gone (60+)
- Life review and reflection… often and long on the events and experiences of their lifetime
- Integrity = judge your life to have been meaningful and productive and feel good about choices made
Integrity Versus Despair
- If one or more stages is not conquered…
- Despair = sense of meaninglessness and blame others for their problems
Can become preoccupied with past and inability to change it
Well-Being and Social Cognition
- Subjective well-being is a positive feeling about one’s life
Subjective well-being may be based on marital status, social network, chronic illness, and stress
Women may experience less subjective well-being
Religiosity and Spiritual Support
- Religious faith/spirituality = important means by which older people cope with life
Spiritual support is involvement with organized and unorganized religious activities and pastoral care
Faith in God’s help is described by elders as distinguishing between what can and cannot be changed, doing what one can to change the things they can, and letting go of those things that cannot be changed
What Does Being Retired Mean?
- Retirement = not always complete withdrawal from work
- Bridge job = a job between ending of primary employment and final retirement
associated with overall life satisfaction
Marriage satisfaction and retirement?
Widowhood
- For most people, the death of a spouse is among the most traumatic experiences they will have
- More than half of all women over 65 are widows. Only 15% of men the same age are widowers
- Friends & family may not visit or socialize as much with elders after the death of a spouse
Widowhood
- Men are at a higher risk of dying, themselves, soon after the death of a spouse
Some researchers believe that a man’s wife is often his only close friend and confidant
There is evidence that older men are less likely to be able to carry out routine activities such as shopping and financial responsibilities
- Women are usually less financially secure when widowed and are more likely to enter poverty status
- Widowers are 5 times more likely to remarry than widows
Prevalence of Frailty
- Less than 5% of adults aged 65 to 74 need assistance
- Incidence of needing assistance increases dramatically thereafter
- Older adults may also have higher rates of anxiety and depression
Living in Nursing Homes
- Only about 5% of older adults live in nursing homes
- About 50% of those who live beyond 85 will spend at least some time in a nursing home
- New (current) issue: STDs!
What Characterizes a Good Nursing Home?
- High quality of life for residents
- Quality of care
- Safety
- Researchers suggest a “person-centered planning” approach to nursing home policies
This approach promotes residents’ well-being by increasing their feelings of personal control
Nursing home staff should avoid patronizing speech and infantilization (i.e., using first names when inappropriate, terms of endearment, etc.)
Elder Abuse and Neglect
- There are several different categories of elder abuse
Physical
Sexual abuse
Emotional or psychological abuse
Financial or material exploitation
Abandonment
Neglect
Self-neglect
Prevalence
- Estimates are that there were 551,000 people over the age of 60 abused or neglected in the U.S. in 1996
- The most common types of abuse were:
Neglect- 60%
Physical abuse- 16%
Financial or material exploitation- 12%
Characteristics of Elder Abuse Victims
- People over the age of 80 are 2 to 3 times more likely to be abused than those under age 80
- In 90% of the cases where the perpetrator of elder abuse is known, it was a family member, 2/3 of which were a spouse or adult child
- Recently, telemarketing fraud has become a larger problem
Causes of Elder Abuse
- Research fails to support the theories that stress alone, or that patterns of abuse transmitted across generations, cause abuse
- Abuse is more likely to be caused by a combination of:
Intrapersonal problems of the caregiver
Interpersonal problems of the caregiver
Social characteristics of the care recipient
Politics, Social Security, and Medicare
- As the number of older adults has increased, so has the quality of their everyday lives, partly as a result of increasing political power
- In the ’50s, roughly 35% of older adults were below the poverty line compared to about 11% in the mid-1990s
Aging
- Researchers predict that in the year 2030 the number of people over 65 will equal the number in other age groups…
What are the societal, economical, interpersonal, and physical and mental health implications?
Aging
- Living longer: Currently, 50% of people over 65 have high school diplomas and 10% have college degrees. Research indicates that in 2030, 75% will have college degrees
- How could this change the impact of the aging population on society (previous slide)?
Research
Society’s view of aging/older adults
Look at pictures of older adults – walk slower down the hallway to leave experiment
Associate aging pictures and words with negative words and feelings
- For aging adults—self-fulfilling prophesy?
Research on aging and perceived control…
- Control over life by choosing new behaviors to meet their needs/desires = proactivity
- When people allow the situation to dictate their options, they show docility
- High competence = more proactivity
- Health, disease, and life expectancy
The “sandwich generation”
- Adult child/spouse and aging parent(s)… now, many adults are taking care of parents AND children
What concerns might you have as a member of the sandwich generation?
Major considerations for the sandwich generation
- Change of role (parent-child), grandchild disruptions/generation gaps
- Change of routine
- Control/loss of control, freedom, and productivity
- Financial strains
- Medical care/care in general
- Safety
Depression
- What is depression?
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
Specific criteria (DSM-5, book of symptoms)
- Why does depression occur in late adulthood and how can we help older adults?
Normal Memory/Cognitions vs. Dementia (This is great info for your Aging Assignment!)
- How does memory normally change in adulthood? Late adulthood? (text info)
- Check out this Alzheimer's Association video that gives a great overview (8 min):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6lA1P2tF0o&feature=related
What is dementia and how is it different from Alzheimer's? (You will use ALZ.org and your understanding here to complete your Dementia Assignment!)
