Paper Requirement

Chapter 15:

Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood

When young adults look forward in time to what their lives might be like as middle-aged adults,

too often they anticipate that things will go downhill. However, like all periods of the human life

span, for most individuals there usually are positive and negative features of middle age. In this

first chapter on middle adulthood, we will discuss physical changes; cognitive changes; changes

in careers, work, and leisure; as well as the importance of religion and meaning in life during

middle adulthood. To begin, though, we will explore how middle age is changing.

Learning Goals

Learning Goal 1: Explain how midlife is changing, and define middle adulthood.

A. Describe how psychology’s view of midlife is changing.

B. Define middle adulthood.

Learning Goal 2: Discuss physical changes in middle adulthood.

A. Describe and discuss the physical changes in middle adulthood.

B. Discuss the changes in health, disease, stress, and control between early adulthood and

middle adulthood.

C. Summarize mortality rates in middle adulthood.

D. Describe and discuss sexual attitudes and behaviors in middle adulthood.

Learning Goal 3: Identify cognitive changes in middle adulthood.

A. Discuss changes and continuity in intelligence.

B. Describe the information processing changes that occur during middle adulthood.

Learning Goal 4: Characterize career development, work, and leisure in middle adulthood.

A. Describe and discuss work patterns in midlife.

B. Discuss career challenges and changes.

C. Define and describe leisure time.

Learning Goal 5: Explain the roles of religion, spirituality, and meaning in life during

middle adulthood.

A. Discuss religion and spirituality and the role they play in adult lives.

B. Describe and discuss the impact of religion and spirituality on health.

C. Summarize the importance of meaning in life.

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 middle-aged and older adults “Rectangularization” of the age distribution

50 year olds are in better shape, more alert and productive than their 40 year old

counterparts from a generation or two earlier. Healthier lifestyles, medical discoveries

helping stave off aging process. Boundaries of middle age are being pushed upward.

Starting later and lasting longer. Half of people 65-69 considered themselves middle

aged. In 1900, life expectancy was 47.

Today, there is a “rectangularization” of the age distribution, where the percentages of

ppl in the different parts of the life span are in more similar.

Today, average life expectancy is 78.

Defining Middle Adulthood

 Middle Adulthood: the developmental period that begins at approximately 40 years of age and extends to about 60–65 years of age

The “baby boomers” were born from 1946-1964. From 1900-2015, the middle aged US

population is projected to increase from 47 to 80 million, a 72% increase.

Of interest to developmentalists because they are best educated and most affluent cohort

to pass through middle age in history.

The concept of gains (growth) and losses (decline) is important in middle adulthood as

biological losses occur. Ratings of physical health become more negative as people pass thru

midlife. Baby boomers said that their health was worse off than they expected but that they

had a good deal of control over their health outcomes. Genetic makeup and lifestyle factors

play roles in whether chronic disease will appear and when.

 For many, middle age is a time for:  Declining physical skills and increasing responsibility  An awareness of the young-old polarity  Transmitting something meaningful to the next generation  Reaching and maintaining career satisfaction  A reassessment of life’s priorities

 Middle adulthood is the age period in which gains (growth) and losses (decline) balance each other

 Late Midlife (55 to 65) is likely to be characterized by:  Death of a parent  Last child leaving the parental home  Becoming a grandparent  Preparation for and actual retirement

 Individual variations are common

Question

 What are differences in the way society perceives aging for both genders?

What kinds of steps are people starting to take to stave off the aging process? (Botox, plastic

surgery, etc…).

Facial wrinkles and gray hair symbolize strength and maturity in men, but may be perceived as

unattractive in women. Women may perceive the signs of aging as having a negative effect on

their physical appearance.

Physical Changes

 Physical Changes:  Usually gradual; rates of aging vary  Wrinkling and sagging of skin  Appearance of aging spots  Hair becomes thinner and grayer  Nails become thicker and more brittle  Yellowing of teeth

 Height tends to shrink in middle age, due to bone loss in the vertebrae  Many gain weight, which is a critical health problem in middle adulthood  Sarcopenia: age-related loss of muscle mass and strength

 Especially common in the back and legs  Exercise can reduce these declines

From 30-50 yrs old, men lose about ½ inch in height, then may lose another ¾ inch from 50-70

you. Women from 25-75 can lose as much as 2 inches. There are large variations in the extent

to which individuals become shorter with aging. Decrease in height due to bone loss in the

vertebrae. Body fat accounts for 10% of body weight in adolescence, 20% or more in middle

age. For people who are 30% or more overweight, the probability of dying in middle adulthood

increases by 40%. Higher rates of hypertension and digestive disorders are present among

obese people. 7 in 10 middle aged people said they are overweight, and half over 45 said they

are less fit than they were five years ago.

Rate of muscle loss with age occurs at a rate of approximately 1-2% per year past age 50. Loss

of strength especially in backs and legs occurs. Peak functioning of joints occurs in 20s. Women

experience twice the rate of bone loss as men. By end of midlife, bones break more easily and

heal more slowly.

 Cushions for bone movement become less efficient, often leading to joint stiffness and more difficulty in movement

 Progressive bone loss  Accommodation of the eye (ability to focus and maintain an image) experiences sharp

declines between 40–59 years

 Difficulty viewing close objects  Reduced blood supply decreases visual field

 Hearing can start to decline by the age of 40  Hearing loss occurs in up to 50% of individuals over the age of 50  High-pitched sounds are typically lost first

 Midlife is often a time for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular

disease

 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

 Lung tissue becomes less elastic at about age 55  Decreases lung’s capacity  Nonsmokers have much better lung capacity

 Wakeful periods become more frequent in the 40’s  Less deep sleep (stage 4)  Feeling less rested in the morning

According to the Men’s Health Web site (http://www.menshealth.org/code/facts.html): Men

have higher death rates for all 15 leading causes of death and die six years younger. Men

represent 50% of the work force, yet account for 94% of all on-the-job fatalities. Men know less

about health and take less responsibility for it. Men are less likely to see themselves as ill or

susceptible to disease or injury when they are more susceptible. Whether healthy or ill, women

engage in far more health-promoting behaviors than men and have much healthier lifestyles.

Compared with men, women: have healthier diets; have lower blood pressure and do more to

control it; sleep more; have larger social networks and more intimate and active social

relationships

According to the Society for Women’s Health Research

(http://www.womenshealthresearch.org/): Women who smoke are more likely to have a heart

attack and develop cancer than men who smoke. Smoking puts a woman at higher risk than a

man for diabetes, high cholesterol, and a stroke. Women also have a harder time quitting

smoking than men. It is more common for women to be obese than men. Changes in hormones

may play a role in excess weight gain for women. Women and men seem to experience pain in

different ways. Women seem to report pain more often than men do and have more persistent

and severe pain. Some studies have shown that women handle pain better than men do and

are able to use more coping strategies. Women are more likely to develop an autoimmune

disease than men. This is because women have enhanced immune systems compared to men,

which increases women’s resistance to many types of infection but also makes them more

susceptible to autoimmune diseases.

Health and Disease

 Frequency of accidents declines  Individuals are less susceptible to colds and allergies  Chronic Disorders: characterized by a slow onset and a long duration

 Rare in early adulthood but increase in middle age  Men have higher rates of fatal chronic conditions, while women have higher rates

of nonfatal chronic conditions

 Arthritis is the leading chronic disorder for women in middle age.  Stress is a key factor in disease, especially if cumulative  Stress weakens the ability of the immune system to fight disease. This effect increases

as we age.

 Link between stress and cardiovascular disease can be indirect

 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

 Immigrants have poorer health in general because of lack of financial resources, poor language skills, prejudice, and discrimination.

Mortality Rates

 Chronic diseases are the main cause of death during middle adulthood  Heart disease (main cause of death in middle adulthood)  Cancer  Cerebrovascular disease

 In the 1st 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 Question

 What are some of the views American society holds about menopause?

 Do other cultures hold differing views toward menopause?

 Climacteric: the midlife transition in which fertility declines  Menopause: time in middle age (late 40’s to early 50’s) when a woman’s menstrual

periods completely cease

 Perimenopause: transitional period; often takes up to 10 years  Heredity and experience influence the onset of menopause  Nausea and fatigue are symptoms  Largely a myth that menopause causes depression, loss of sexual desire, and

psychological disturbance.

 Cross-cultural studies show that the menopausal experience varies among women, but it is not generally as negative as it was once thought to be

 Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is controversial because it has been linked to increased risk of stroke, dementia, and cancer

Question

 What are some of the attitudes people hold about middle-aged sexual activity?

Sexuality

 Hormonal Changes in Men:  Most men do not lose the ability to father children  Modest decline in sexual hormone level and activity

 Erectile Dysfunction is common in middle-aged men  May stem from physiological problems

 Sexual Attitudes and Behavior:  Sexual activity occurs less frequently in middle adulthood  Middle-aged men are more interested in sex than middle-aged women

 Living with a spouse or partner makes all the difference in terms of engaging in sexual activity

Cognitive Development

 Crystallized Intelligence: an individual’s accumulated information and verbal skills. For

example, everything else in your lives being equal… your 70 year old grandma should beat you at a round of trivia. She has many years on you to have accumulated knowledge.

 Continues to increase in middle adulthood  Fluid Intelligence: the ability to reason abstractly

 May begin to decline in middle adulthood. For example, a relative of mine got a new iphone. It took her a long while to abstract how to use that phone from the last phone she used. It took her a while to transfer that knowledge to her new phone. This is opposed to my young cousin, a teenager, who can figure out his new phone rather quickly.

 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

Work in Midlife

 Work is central to one’s life during middle age

 In the U.S., about 80% of people aged 40 to 59 work  Midlife is a time of evaluation, assessment, and reflection about work roles and future

goals

 Far more couples today have to plan two retirements  Currently, middle-aged workers face many challenges:

 Globalization and exporting of jobs  Rapid development in technologies  Downsizing and restructuring of companies  Early retirement  Concerns about pensions and health care

 Some midlife career changes are self-motivated, others are the consequence of losing one’s job

Leisure

 Leisure: pleasant times after work when individuals are free to pursue activities and interests of their own choosing

 Leisure opportunities may be expanded in middle adulthood, as people may have more money, more free time, and paid vacation

 Compared with those who never took vacations, men who went on annual vacations were 21% less likely to die over the 9 years studied, and 32% less likely to die of coronary disease

 Constructive and fulfilling leisure activities help individuals prepare psychologically for retirement

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

Here are some good links related to this chapter:

Damaged Genes in Aging Human Brains Provide Clues to Cognitive Decline

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-06/chb-dgi060204.php

Life in Middle Age

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/lifeinmiddleage.shtml

Men’s Health

http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Men_s_Health/

Middle Adulthood

http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d46/psy/dev/mid_adult/

North American Menopause Society

http://www.menopause.org/

Salthouse’s Mental Aging Lab

http://www.mentalaging.com/

Stress and Health Psychology

http://www.abacon.com/lefton/stress.html