1. Physical and Cognitive Development
in Middle Adulthood

2. 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

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

4. Physical Changes Physical Changes: Usually gradual; aging rates vary
Wrinkling and sagging of skin, age spots, thinning gray hair, thicker brittle nails, 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

5. Sarcopenia: age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, specially common in the back and legs -- exercise can reduce these declines
Cushions for bone movement become less efficient, often leading to joint stiffness and difficulty in movement
Progressive bone loss

6. 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

7. 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
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

8. Health and Disease Frequency of accidents declines
Individuals are less susceptible to colds and allergies
Stress is a key factor in disease, especially
Immune system functioning decreases with normal aging
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
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

9. Mortality Rates
Chronic diseases are the main cause of death during middle adulthood
Heart disease
Cancer
Cerebrovascular disease
In the 1st half of middle age, cancer claims more lives than heart disease; trend is reversed during the 2nd half of middle age
Men have higher mortality rates than women

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

11. Sexuality Hormonal Changes in Men: Sexual Attitudes and Behavior:
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

12. Cognitive Development
Fluid Intelligence
the capacity to think logically and solve problems in new situations, independent of acquired knowledge
It is necessary for all logical problem solving, especially scientific, mathematical and technical problem solving.
Crystallized Intelligence
the ability to use skills, knowledge, and experience
one’s lifetime or intellectual achievement, as demonstrated largely through one's vocabulary and general knowledge

13. 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 (actively holds information in the mind to do verbal and nonverbal tasks)
The Seattle Longitudinal Study: study of intellectual abilities in adulthood years
Peak performance on vocabulary, verbal memory, inductive reasoning, and spatial orientation was attained in middle age
Decline in numerical ability and perceptual speed
Declines in memory, word fluency, and perceptual speed in middle adulthood were linked to neuropsychologists’ ratings of individuals’ cognitive impairment in late adulthood
Extensive individual differences
Speed of information processing declines moderately during middle adulthood
Multiple potential causes
Memory declines may occur exclusively during the later part of middle age or in late adulthood
Memory decline is more likely to occur when individuals do not use effective memory strategies

14. Religion and Adult Lives
More than 70% of middle-aged adults are religious and consider spirituality a major part of their lives
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

15. Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood

16. 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 (a time where adults come to realize their own mortality and how much time is left in their life)
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
Adults often experience a peak of personal control and power during middle age
Adults’ ability to master their environment, autonomy, and personal relations improve during middle age
Adult developmental experts generally agree that midlife crises have been exaggerated
In general, stage theories place too much emphasis on crises in development
There is often considerable individual variation in the way people experience the stages
Individual Variations:
Stage theories do not adequately address individual variations in adult development
Some individuals may experience a midlife crisis in some contexts of their lives but not others
In 1/3 of cases where individuals report experiencing a midlife crisis, the crisis was triggered by life events such as job loss, financial problems, or illness

17. 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 1950s and continuing today:
Considerable stability in the five personality factors
sociability and carefulness increased in early and middle adulthood
Openness to experience increased in adolescence/early adulthood and then decreased in late adulthood

18. The big five factors of personality
Openness to experience
Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience
Eg: I have a rich vocabulary
Conscientiousness
A tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement
Eg: I am always prepared
Extraversion
Energy, positive emotions, assertiveness, sociability
Eg: I feel comfortable around people.

19. The big five factors of personality
Agreeableness
A tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others.
Eg: I sympathize with others' feelings.
Neuroticism
The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety.
Eg: I get irritated easily.

20. Stability and Change
Berkeley Longitudinal Studies: more than 500 children and parents studied in the 1920s through midlife:
No support that personality is characterized by changes or stability from adolescence to midlife
Intellectual orientation, self-confidence, and openness to experience were the more stable traits
Ability to nurture and self-control changed most

21. STABILITY AND CHANGE
Vaillant’s Studies: conducted three longitudinal studies from the 1920s 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

22. 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 narrowed 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

23. 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

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

25. 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 structure
Grandparents who take in grandchildren are in better health, are better educated, are more likely to be working outside the home, and are younger than grandparents who move in with their children
Concern over grandparent visitation of children has become more common

26. 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
Middle-aged and older adults typically express a strong feeling of responsibility between generations in their family
They share their experiences and transmit values to the younger generation
Family members typically maintain considerable contact across generations
When conflicts arise, parents most often cite habits and lifestyle choices, while adult children cite communication and interaction styles

27. THANK YOU…