1. CHAPTERS 15 & 16 MIDDLE ADULTHOOD 15. PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 16. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

2. CHAPTER FIFTEEN PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

3. I. PHYSICAL CHANGES Changes or declines in many physical functions occur very gradually through the 40s and 50s Among adults who are otherwise healthy, the amount of loss is far less than folklore would have us believe This period of life may be the intellectual and creative peak For a few physical functions, however, change or decline is already substantial in the middle adult years

4. A. The Brain & Nervous System New technology (primarily MRI) has recently increased our knowledge of normal brain function; cognitive tasks activate a larger area of brain tissue in middle-aged adults than they do in younger adults; the brains of middle-aged and younger adults respond differently to sensory stimuli White matter volume crests in middle adulthood; grey matter volume continues its decline levelling off around age 60; new synapses are continuing to form in middle age, but unlike in the younger years, more synapses are lost than are formed Despite these apparently negative findings, in everyday situations, middle-aged adults perform better than their younger counterparts

5. B. The Reproductive System Male Climacteric: adult period when reproductive capacity declines or is lost in men in a gradual, very slow fashion Menopause: cessation of monthly menstrual cycles in middle-aged women; average age of menopause is roughly age 50. Three phases: (1)Premenopausal: estrogen levels fall somewhat, menstrual periods less regular, and anovulatory cycles begin to occur; (2) Perimenopausal: estrogen & progesterone levels erratic, menstrual cycles very irregular, beginning of symptoms such as hot flashes; (3) Postmenopausal: no menstrual periods for a year or more Psychological Effects of Menopause: no known connection between menopausal status & major depressive disorder; negativity may stem from life stressors before menopause; women with significant long-lasting symptoms experience the most negative moods; sleep deprivation from symptoms may be misdiagnosed as depression Sexual Activity: great majority of middle-aged adults remain sexually active, although the frequency of sex declines in these years due to demands from other roles rather than declining hormones

6. C. Other Body System s Skeletal system: bone loss begins at about age 30 for both men and women; in women process is accelerated by decreasing estrogen and progesterone levels in menopause; major consequence of bone density loss is increased risk of fractures, beginning as early as age 50 for women, and much later for men; osteoporosis can be prevented by getting a bone mineral density test for early diagnosis, getting enough calcium during early adulthood, getting regular exercise (weight-bearing exercise such as walking or strength training throughout adult life) Vision: presbyopia is the normal loss of visual acuity with aging, especially the ability to focus the eyes on near objects around the age of 40s and early 50s Hearing: presbycusis is the normal loss of hearing with aging, especially of high-frequency or very low-frequency tones; hearing loss accelerates after age 55

7. Risk Factors for Osteoporosis

8. II. HEALTH PROMOTION & WELLNESS Health is the most important variable affecting quality of life in middle and late adulthood; a middle-aged person in good health functions well and has as much energy as much younger adults; life-expectancy is remarkably high, and has been rising over the past few decades Middle-aged adults report annoying aches and pains with greater frequency than in their youth, and many are unhappy with their bodies; half of adults between 40 and 65 have either some diagnosed disease or disability or a significant, but undiagnosed problem Disease-related death increases in middle-adulthood; cancer and cardiovascular disease are the top leading causes of death in middle and old adulthood; nearly 3 times as many men as women die of heart disease between the ages of 45 and 54 Women’s life expectancy is greater than men’s, but women have more diseases and disabilities such as arthritis

9. Life Expectancy at Age 40 in Canada

10. Disease Related Deaths in Canada

11. Risk Factors for Heart Disease & Cancer

12. Physical Activity and Mortality Rate

13. III. COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING In the middle adult years, some cognitive abilities improve, whereas others slow down a bit; many adults have acquired large bodies of knowledge and skills that help them compensate for losses and solve problems within their areas of expertise more efficiently than younger adults do Exercise may be one of the critical factors in determining an individual person's overall physical health and cognitive performance during middle adulthood Among physically healthy middle-aged and older adults, those who are more physically active have higher scores on tests of reasoning, reaction time, and short-term memory

14. Changes in Memory & Cognition Major deficits in memory and cognition occur around ages 60 or 65 Memory: forgetfulness increases with age; memory demands of middle-aged adults' everyday lives are greater than for those of young adults; visual memory declines in middle age; auditory memory remains stable throughout adulthood; recognition of words and texts remains stable throughout adulthood; episodic memory (the ability to re-experience personal events) slows with age, but not semantic memory (general knowledge of the world, facts, and the meaning of words); middle-aged adults overcome episodic memory limitations by using reminders & cues to remember information Use It Or Lose It: most adults maintain or even gain in skills on any task that they practice often or in areas of expertise; adults who engage in intellectually challenging activities show fewer losses in cognitive skills than those who do not New Learning: Middle-aged adults outperform those who are younger on tasks that involve comprehending, summarizing, & attending to overarching themes in reading material

15. Creativity Simonton identified the age at which notable scientists published their first significant work, their best work, and their last work In every scientific discipline represented, the thinkers produced their best work at about age 40 Most were publishing significant, even outstanding, research through their 40s and into their 50s Among musicians or other artists, peak creativity may occur later or be maintained far longer Creativity is a type of thought process called divergent thinking which provides multiple solutions to problems that have no clear answers

16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

17. I. THEORIES OF SOCIAL & PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT Middle adulthood is commonly seen as the time when people are best able, developmentally, to manage the weighty demands associated with positions of authority and responsibility Erikson’s generativity vs. stagnation stage: generativity is a a sense that one is making a valuable contribution to society by bringing up children or mentoring younger people (teaching, mentoring, leading in civic, religious or charitable organizations); generativity is positively related to mental health & psychological growth at this age Vaillant revised Erikson’s Theory by adding 2 more stages: (1) the career consolidation stage (between the stages of intimacy vs. isolation & generativity vs. stagnation) has as outcome the creation of a new social network for which the middle-aged adult’s primary work serves as a hub; (2) the keeper of the meaning stage (right after the stage of generativity vs. stagnation) when middle-aged adults focus on preserving the institutions and values of their culture that they believe will benefit future generations

18. Mid-Life Crisis: Fact or Fiction? The term mid-life crisis was coined in the 1960s, when major events along life’s timeline were relatively lockstep and predictable, especially for men (school – work – retirement – death); midway between school and death, a person’s perspective shifted from “time since birth” to “time left before death” and seemed to be a universal phenomenon of people in their 40s; now, however, the timing and nature of major life events have changed dramatically; several studies since the 1980s have failed to identify distinct ages at which measures of “mid-life crisis” occurred Life events approach: a theoretical perspective on middle adulthood that focuses on normative and non-normative events & stressors, and how adults in this age group respond to them; role conflict occurs in a situation in which two or more roles are at least partially incompatible, either because they call for different behaviours or because of time limitations; role strain is the strain experienced by an individual whose own qualities or skills do not measure up to the demands of some role

19. II. CHANGES IN RELATIONSHIPS & PERSONALITY Partnerships: marital stability and satisfaction increase in mid-life as conflicts over child-rearing and other matters decline; shared friendships increase; skilled diplomacy involves the confrontation of the spouse about an issue, followed by a period during which the confronting spouse works to restore harmony The sandwich generation: those between ages 40 and 65 give more than they receive to both adult children and to aging parents Emptying the nest: those who delay childbearing push the empty nest to a later age; role of parent continues when the child leaves home; adults have much more time for spousal roles, contributing to higher marital satisfaction; women more likely to describe the departure of the last child as a positive event than a negative one The revolving door: percentage of adult children living with parents is increasing (financial difficulties, delayed marriage, rise in divorce rate); conflicts are common (inadequate privacy, delayed pursuit of their own goals; despite conflicts, new tasks & roles, more than half of parents are satisfied with the arrangement

20. The Sandwich Generation

21. Consequences of the Care-giving Role

22. Grandparenting More than half of Canadian adults become “grandparents” by the end of middle adulthood Most grandparents see or talk to their grandchildren regularly and describe the relationships as warm and loving; warm relationships with grandparents have a positive impact on children's development; grandparents an especially important source of stability in the lives of children of divorced parents Basic styles of grandparenting: Remote relationships, in which grandparents do not see their grandchildren often Companionate relationships, in which grandparents have frequent contact and warm interactions with grandchildren Involved relationships, in which grandparents are directly involved in the everyday care of grandchildren or have close emotional ties with them

23. Ages at Which Individuals Become Grandparents

24. Friends The total number of friendships is lower than in young adulthood Mid-life friendships are as intimate and close as at earlier ages Since role conflicts are fewer at this age, the need for a social network for emotional support may be less Friendship depends less on frequent contact than on a sense that friends are there to provide support as needed

25. Continuity and Change in Personality The Big 5 personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extraversion) are relatively stable from childhood to old age; openness, extraversion, and neuroticism decline as adults age; agreeableness increases up until around age 70 and conscientiousness increases as well Longitudinal studies show that many individuals, particularly women, become less negative over time Tolerance for risk-taking and impulsivity decline with age Stability is the general pattern, but the increased variability in personality that is typically found among middle-aged and older adults suggests that change is clearly possible

26. III.MID-LIFE CAREER ISSUES Work satisfaction: job satisfaction at its peak in middle years; workers who avoid burnout in high-stress professions learn to pace themselves and to rely less on external sources of job satisfaction; men and women cite the same sources of work dissatisfaction in middle age (time pressure, difficult co-workers, boring tasks, and fear of losing one’s job); women worry much more than men about the effects of having children on their career advancement Job performance: job performance remains high throughout the middle years unless strength or reaction time are critical elements Selective optimization with compensation (Baltes & Baltes): selection involves narrowing one's range of activities, by focusing on only the most central tasks, delegating more responsibilities to others, or giving up or reducing peripheral job activities; optimization involves the deliberate "exercise" of crucial abilities so as to remain as close to maximum skill as possible; compensation involves pragmatic strategies for overcoming specific obstacles, such as getting stronger glasses or hearing aids, or devising ways to reduce memory loads with systematic list-making

27. Unemployment and Career Transitions Career changes, common in today’s job market, can be more difficult for middle aged people; employers tend to favour younger people as new employees Involuntary career changers experience more mental health disorders and physical illness (including higher levels of mortality), financial stress and deterioration in marital relations are direct and indirect causes; reemployment reverses these trends Voluntary career changers leave one career to pursue another for a variety of internal reasons, such as finding a new job that is more fulfilling

28. Preparing for Retirement Historically, retirement is a relatively new phenomenon; many middle-aged adults begin to prepare for retirement, often as early as 15 years before anticipated date; one preparation aspect is gradual reduction in workload; until recently, retirement planning was almost exclusively a male responsibility Retirement preparations of the Baby Boomers: expected length of retirement far longer than earlier generations, 20 years or more; most expect to continue a relatively high standard of living, but do not expect OAS, QPP, CPP may not meet their lifestyle needs; most expect to work at least part-time; most have given much thought to what they would like to do in retirement but few have prepared for the financial aspects of retirement