FAMILY TASK DURING MIDDLE ADULTHOOD &
FAMILY IN LATER LIFE
A. Family Task During Middle Adulthood
Adulthood is a term for adulthood over a long period of time, even 80 years
after late adolescence. Meanwhile, Middle Adulthood is generally defined as someone
aged 40 to 60 years (Lachman, Teshale, & Agrigoroaei, 2015). Middle adulthood,
middle age, and midlife are often used as the same meaning, around the age of 42 to
50 years.
In Havighurst's Theory of Developmental Tasks, namely in the Middle Age
stage (30 - 60 years), Havighurst divides tasks into 4 broad categories, namely:
1. Tasks relating to physical changes
2. Tasks relating to changed interests
3. Tasks relating to vocational adjustments
4. Tasks relating to family life
Havighurst associates developmental tasks with everyday life such as finding a
partner and/or starting a family. There is a relationship between midlife tasks and
personality development:
1. Maintaining/developing a romantic relationship
The main task for a person who is at middle age is to maintain a relationship
with a partner in line with other responsibilities. A stable marriage relationship
will reduce the likelihood of divorce. (Roberts & Bogg, 2004).
2. Maintaining/developing an intact family life
Havighurst (1972) says that parents who are at midlife age tend to worry about
their teenage children becoming responsible and happy adults. This task
becomes difficult to carry out with confrontation or poor relationships and
having conflicts between children and parents (Holmbeck, Paikoff, & Brooks-
Gunn, 1995).
3. Maintaining/developing job life
The task of development in terms of work is to achieve and maintain work
achievements and also avoid social conflicts. Maintaining a job can improve
emotional stability (Scollon & Diener; 2006), on the contrary, if it fails in this
task, it will decrease emotional stability (van Aken et al., 2006).
4. Maintaining/developing adult social life
Middle adulthood is the period of life that is most fulfilled by the demands of
the role (Mc Adams & Olson, 2010), so at this time there is little free time.
Leisure management is an important task in middle adulthood (Havighurst,
1972).
5. Adjusting to physical changes
Researchers found that poor physical health is associated with increased
negative emotions (Helson & Soto, 2005). Where during the middle age
period, adjustments are needed to the decline in health and health capacity.
Based on the theory of the 8 stages of the Family Life Cycle according to
Duvall and Miller (1985) which explains the stages of family development and the
tasks that exist in each family. In the 7th stage, namely the middle age family stage,
the tasks of family development at this stage are:
1. Maintain a healthy body
2. Have freedom in managing relationships and social interests
3. Have a break/relax time
4. Maintaining familiarity with the couple
5. Maintaining relationships with family and children
6. Preparing for old age
At this stage it is also characterized by the child in the family leaving home to
continue his life.
B. Family in Later Life
Brubaker (1990) posits that later families are portrayed by the fact that they
have completed the stage of parenting. In contrast, Ingrid Connidis (2001) asserts that
the definition of family in later life should allow for the diversity of individual
experiences by focusing on family relationships rather than specific life path stages or
chronological ages. Connidis (2001) points out that older childless couples do not fit
Brubaker's definition of a later family. Similarly, age is not always an accurate way to
define a family later in life because individuals can become grandparents in their
twenties and thirties (Burton and Bengtson 1985). Victoria Bedford and Rosemary
Blieszner (1997) offer the most helpful way to define family relationships later on as
they state: The family is a set of relationships defined by biology, adoption, marriage,
and, in some societies, social designations and exists even in the absence of affective
contact or involvement, and, in some cases, even after the death of a particular
member (Later Life Families ,2021).
The family as an individual changes and evolves all the time. Each stage of
development has its own challenges, needs, resources, and includes tasks that must be
fulfilled before the family reaches the next stage. In accordance with the 8 stages of
family development (Eight-Stage Family Life Cycle) according to Duvall (1977).
Developmental tasks in elderly families, including:
1. Maintain a pleasant home atmosphere.
2. Adaptation to the changes of losing a partner, friends, physical strength and
income.
3. Maintain the familiarity of the husband and wife and take care
of each other.
4. Maintain relationships with the child and social communities.
5. Do a life review.
6. Maintaining a satisfactory arrangement is the main task of the family at this
stage.
Characteristics of the family in later life
Brubaker (1990) notes that later families are characterized by the presence of
three, four, and even five generations. The path of family life is certainly becoming
longer and more varied. Fourth- and fifth-generation families add both opportunity
and complexity in balancing the needs of family members and resources. Adult
children who are past retirement, with limited resources, and increasingly involved in
caring for their elders. In addition, emotional strain is possible, with the global
economic downturn and uncertainty in employment and benefits affecting both young
and old. The tendency to have few or no children will leave older people with fewer
intergenerational connections and burden family resources for financial support and
caregiving. (McGoldrick, Carter, and Preto, 2016).
The family structure later in life varied as a result of social, demographic, and
cultural differences. The existence of more or greater age differences between
generations can also affect the nature and duration of intergenerational relationships as
well as the type and level of help and care required between generations. In addition,
differences in cultural values lead to a diversity of norms around old age and
intergenerational relationships. In some countries, such as Japan and China, older
relatives hold a special place of honor in the family and there are strong social norms
that dictate that adult children provide care and protection for elderly family members
(Thorson 2000).
Despite the differences in family structure, the families of later life tend to
share another characteristic identified by Timothy Brubaker (1990), namely family
history. The family later in life had a long and rich "reservoir of experience". In
addition to having established patterns of interaction, later families can also be
characterized by "unfinished business or tension" arising from events that occurred
earlier in family history (Brubaker, 1990)
Couple relationships in later life
Marriage is shown to have a positive effect on the well-being of individuals
later in life. According to Mastekaasa (1994) in Later Life Families (2021) married
individuals report that they have greater individual well-being than individuals who
have never married, divorced, separated, or widowed. However, at every stage of
marital relations, men have a higher level of satisfaction and feelings of well-being
than women. Apart from gender differences, there are also differences in satisfaction in
marriage in the future related to race, ethnicity, and nationality.
Couples later in life undergo a number of transitions as children leave home,
individuals retire, and grandchildren are born. Most couples who faced storms in long-
term relationships and parenting reported that they had high relationship satisfaction in
the year post launch, with more time and resources for individual and shared pursuits.
Although sexual contact may be less frequent, they can deepen intimacy with a sense
of shared unidirectionality. New satisfaction is also found in shared activities such as
travel, and in bonding with grandchildren (McGoldrick, Carter, and Preto, 2016).
Some researchers have found that the increase in marital satisfaction later in
life is largely explained by the decline in parenting and work responsibilities derived
from the launch of adult children and the transition to retirement (Orbuch et al. 1996).
Similarly, Barbara Mitchell and Ellen Gee (1996) in Later Life Families (2021) note
that the return of adult children to the home after the initial launch has the potential to
negatively impact marital satisfaction. According to Blenker (1965) in McGoldrick,
Carter, and Preto (2016) most elderly Americans with good health prefer to maintain
households separated from children, yet they maintain frequent contact, mutual
emotional bonding, and mutual support in a pattern called "intimacy remotely.".
Another way to examine marital satisfaction and marital quality later in life is
to term conflict. An older couple has been found. has a decreased potential for marital
conflict and an increased potential to derive pleasure from their children and
grandchildren, from joint activities, and from shared aspirations and holidays
(Levensen, Carstensen, dan Gottman 1993). In addition, older couples tend to be less
emotionally negative and more affectionate in their conflict resolution than their
middle-aged couples (Carstensen, Gottman, and Levensen 1995). So, the older couple
may have developed strategies to avoid conflicts as well as resolve differences in a
friendlier way.
Pension
Retirement is one of the most significant changes families face later in life. For
most, retirement involves the loss of job roles, status, and productivity, which are
judged as our (male) cultural standards for identity, success, and self-esteem in adult
life. Whether retirement is desirable or forced will affect the adjustment. Even when
early retirement or termination is caused by the economy or relocation of the company,
self-doubt remains, as well as anxiety and sadness at the loss of benefits and security.
The loss of income and one's role as a financial provider can significantly damage
relationships.
In the process of transitioning from work to retirement can be a difficult
challenge for many couples. During the transitional stage, both husband and wife tend
to describe a loss of marital qualities (Moen, Kim, and Hofmeister 2001). Retirement
time can be a source of marital conflict as well as the result of negotiations between
spouses. Deborah Smith and Phyllis Moen (1998) in Later Life Families (2021) state
that a husband's decision to retire is more likely to affect the wife's retirement time
than vice versa. Couples in which one spouse retires while the other continues to work
tend to experience larger marital disputes, regardless of gender (Moen, Kim, and
Hofmeister 2001). After retirement, spouses may spend more time together, which
will improve marital relations or increase conflicts.
Grandparenthood
In life, most people will experience the role of grandparenthood. As people live
longer, more and more become grandparents and great-grandparents (Drew &
Silverstein, 2004 in McGoldrick, Carter, and Preto, 2016). Grandparenthood is a
systematic transition that changes intergenerational relationships (Speak, 1974 in
McGoldrick, Carter, and Preto, 2016). When a child later becomes an adult and now
grows old, it provides an opportunity to reconnect and heal old intergenerational
wounds. Grandparents and great-grandparents with knowledge of five or more
generations, are in a unique position to connect the younger generation with those who
came before them through their personal memories and stories.
According to Maximiliane Szinovacz (1998) in Later Life Families (2021)
noted that most people become grandparents in middle age rather than later in life.
Thus, grandparents in later life will tend to have grandchildren who are in their teens
and young adults (Connidis 2001). According to Connidis (2001) the relationship
grandparents have with their grandchildren varies by age and gender. When
grandchildren are young, grandparents tend to be more involved in their lives than
when the grandchild reaches adolescence contact between grandparents and
grandchildren tends to decrease. Similarly, grandmothers tend to provide more
emotional support, whereas grandparents tend to provide more instrumental support
such as advice and financial assistance to their grandchildren. Although they
participate in relatively few activities with one of their grandparents, adult
grandchildren spend more time with their grandmothers than with their grandparents
(Roberto and Stroes 1995).
