Chapter 13-14

• Emerging adulthood is a proposed transitional period between adolescence and adulthood commonly found in industrialized countries
• Genetic influences on health

  • Atherosclerosis - the build-up of fats, cholesterol, and other substances in and on the artery walls
  • Behavioral habits may also affect cholesterol levels (e.g., diet)
• Behavioral influences on health and fitness

  • Diet and nutrition - 18 to 30 years old who eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods are less likely to develop high blood pressures
  • Mediterranean-style Diet - associated with reduced risk for a wide variety of cancers
  • Obesity/Overweight - In the United States, the average man or woman is more than 24 pounds heavier than in the early 1960s but only about 1 inch taller
  • Bariatric Surgery - any surgery that is carried out to induce weight loss, and it generally involves rerouting or removing parts of the stomach or small intestine
  • Physical activity - People who are physically active reap many benefits: maintain desirable body weight, physical activity builds muscles, strengthens heart and lungs, lowers blood pressure, protect against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, several cancers, and osteoporosis
  • Sleep - High levels of Insomnia associated with family life and academic stress, Adequate sleep improves learning of complex motor skills and consolidate previous learning, Burnout - an oversaturation of the brain's perceptual processing systems
  • Smoking - leading preventable causes of death, illness and impoverishment, linked not only to lung cancer but also to increased risks of heart disease, stroke, and chronic lung disease
  • Alcohol use - associated with other emerging adulthood risks, such as traffic accidents, crime, and HIV infection, Alcohol use peaks in emerging adulthood, Risky drinking - consuming more than 14 drinks a week or 4 drinks on any single day for men, and more than 7 drinks a week or 3 drinks on any single day for women
• Relationship and health


  • Social Integration - active engagement in a broad range of social relationships, activities, and roles
  • Social Support - refers to material, informational, and psychological resources derived from the social network, on which a person can rely for help in coping with stress
• Mental health problems


  • Alcoholism - chronic disease involving dependence on use of alcohol, causing interference with normal functioning and fulfillment of obligations
  • Detoxification - removing all alcohol from the body
  • Drug Use and Abuse - use of illicit drugs peaks at ages 18 to 25; the most common habit-forming drugs include marijuana, prescription painkillers, cocaine, and heroin
  • Depression - adolescence and emerging adulthood appear to be sensitive periods for the onset of depressive disorders, Depressive Mood - extended period of sadness, Depressive Syndrome - an extended period of sadness along with a variety of other symptoms such as crying and feelings of worthlessness or hopelessness, Major Depressive Disorder - clinical diagnosis with a specific set of symptoms, is the most serious, and generally requires medical intervention
• Sexual and reproductive issues

  • Sexual behavior and attitudes - According to a nationally representative, in-person survey, 75 percent of adults have had premarital sex by age 20, Casual Sex (hooking up) is fairly common, especially on college campuses
  • Sexually Transmitted Infection (STIs) - The highest rates of STDs in the U.S. are among emerging adults ages 18 to 25, especially among those who use alcohol and/or illicit drugs, The use of condoms is the most effective means of preventing STDs
  • Menstrual Disorders - Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) - disorder producing symptoms of physical discomfort and emotional tension for up to 2 weeks before a menstrual period, Dysmenorrhea - caused by contractions of the uterus, which are set in motion by prostaglandin, a hormonelike substance, it can be treated with prostaglandin inhibitors such as ibuprofen
  • Infertility - Inability to conceive a child after 12 months of sexual intercourse without the use of birth control, The most common cause of infertility in men is the production of too few sperm, In women, the cause of infertility may be the failure to produce ova or normal ova, mucus in the cervix, which might prevent sperm from penetrating it
• Cognitive development


  • Reflective Thinking - type of logical thinking that becomes more prominent in adulthood, involving continuous, active evaluation of information and beliefs in the light of evidence and implications
  • Postformal Thought - mature type of thinking that relies on subjective experience and intuition as well as logical and allows room for ambiguity, uncertainty, inconsistency, contradiction, imperfection, and compromise
• K. Warner Schaie's life span model

  1. Acquisition of Information and Skills (what I need to know)

  2. Practical Integration of Knowledge and Skills (how to use what I know)

  3. Search for Meaning and Purpose (why I should know)
• Life-span model of cognitive development

  • Acquisitive Stage - Childhood and adolescence, Acquire information and skills mainly for their own sake or as preparation for participation in society
  • Achieving Stage - Late teens or early 20s to early 30s, Young adults no longer acquire knowledge merely for its own sake; they use what they know to pursue goals
  • Responsible Stage - Lates 30s to early 60s, Middle-aged people use their minds to solve practical problems associated with responsibilities to others
  • Executive Stage - 30s or 40s to middle age, People in the executive stage are responsible for societal systems (such as governmental or business organizations) or social movements. They deal with complex relationships on multiple levels
  • Reorganizational Stage - End of middle age, beginning of late adulthood, People who enter retirement reorganize their lives and intellectual energies around meaningful pursuits that take the place of paid work
  • Reintegrative Stage - Late adulthood, Older adults may be experiencing biological and cognitive changes and tend to be more selective about what tasks they expend effort on. They focus on the purpose of what they do and concentrate on tasks that have the most meaning for them
  • Legacy-creating Stage - Advanced old age, Near the end of life, once reintegration has been completed (or along with it), older people may create instructions for the disposition of prized possessions, make funeral arrangements, provide oral histories, or write their life stories as a legacy for their loved ones
• Tacit knowledge


  Information that is not formally taught but is necessary to get ahead, including self-management, management of tasks, and management of others
• Emotional intelligence


  The ability to understand and regulate emotions, an important component of effective, intelligent behavior
• Moral reasoning is closely tied to cognitive maturation
• Education and work


  • The college transition - Distance learning (courses are delivered via mail, e-mail, internet)
  • Substantive complexity - The degree to which a person's work requires thought and independent judgment
  • Spillover hypothesis - Hypothesis that a positive correlation exists between the intellectuality of work and leisure activities because of a carryover of cognitive gains from work to leisure
• Varied paths to adulthood


  • First group - Young adults who begin families early and generally do not go to college
  • Second group - Young adults who delay children until young adulthood but who, rather than investing in college, move into full-time work
  • Third group - Emerging adults of both sexes who delay parenthood and other traditional markers of adulthood in pursuit of educational or career goals
• Identity development in emerging adulthood

  1. Recentering - Stage 1 - beginning of emerging adulthood, the individual is still embedded in the family of origin, but expectations for self-reliance and self-directedness begin to increase

  2. Stage 2 - during emerging adulthood, the individual remains connected to but no longer embedded within the family of origin

  3. Stage 3 - usually by age 30, the individual moves into young adulthood. This stage is marked by independence from the family of origin (while retaining close ties to it) and commitment to a career, a partner, and possibly children
• The contemporary moratorium


  A fragmented, postindustrial society offers many emerging adults' little guidance and less pressure to grow up wherein young adults must construct their life course out of opportunities and constraints around them, Moratorium status - a self-conscious crisis that leads to a resolution, Youthhood - a result of an extended Moratorium
• Ethnic and cultural factors in identity exploration

  • Identity Exploration is different for people who are part of racial/ethnic minorities if compared to the majority white population, Multiracial people will experience a challenge about fitting in. However, most people will achieve resolution.
• Developing adult relationships with parents

  • Influences on relationships with parents - Emerging adults still need parental acceptance, empathy, support, and attachment, which helps their well-being
  • Failure to launch - Emerging young adults from high income families are more likely to live with their parents, In-house adulthood - Adult children Europeans who lives in with their parents and treat each other as equals
• Normative-stage models


  Theoretical models that describe psychosocial development in terms of a definite sequence of age-related changes
• Erikson: Intimacy vs. Isolation


  Erikson's 6th stage of psychosocial development
• Identity Exploration


  Different for people who are part of racial/ethnic minorities compared to the majority white population
• Multiracial people


  • Experience a challenge about fitting in, but most people will achieve resolution
• Emerging adults


  Still need parental acceptance, empathy, support, and attachment, which helps their well-being
• Emerging young adults from high income families


  More likely to live with their parents
• In-house adulthood


  Adult children Europeans who live with their parents and treat each other as equals
• Erikson's 6th stage of psychosocial development


  Intimacy vs. Isolation - young adults either form strong, long-lasting bonds with friends and romantic partners or face a possible sense of isolation and self-absorption
• Timing-of-events model


  Theoretical model of personality development that describes adult psychosocial development as a response to the expected or unexpected occurrence and timing of important life events
• Normative life events


  In the timing-of-events model, commonly expected life experiences that occur at customary times
• Social clock


  Set of cultural norms or expectations for the times of life when certain important events, such as marriage, parenthood, entry into work, and retirement, should occur
• Trait models: Costa and McCrae's Five Factors

  Theoretical models of personality development that focus on mental, emotional, temperamental, and behavioral traits, or attributes
• Five-factor model


  Theoretical model of personality, developed and tested by Costa and McCrae, based on the "Big Five" factors underlying clusters of related personality traits: openness to experiences, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
• Five-factor model


  • Openness
  • Conscientiousness
  • Extraversion
  • Agreeableness
  • Neuroticism
• Typological approach


  Theoretical approach that identifies broad personality types, or styles
• Ego-resiliency


  Interacts with ego control to determine whether or not behavior is adaptive or maladaptive
• Overcontrolled people


  Shy, quiet, anxious, and dependable; they tend to keep their thoughts to themselves and to withdraw from conflict, and they are the most subject to depression
• Undercontrolled people


  Active, energetic, impulsive, stubborn, and easily distracted
• Intimate relationships


  Require self-awareness; empathy; the ability to communicate emotions, resolve conflicts, and sustain commitments; and, if the relationship is potentially a sexual one, sexual decision making
• Friendships during emerging adulthood

  Often less stable than in either adolescence or later adulthood, primarily because people in emerging adulthood relocate more frequently
• Friendship differences between women and men

  • Women typically have more intimate friendships than men do
  • Men are more likely to share information and activities
• Fictive kin


  Friends who are considered and behave like family members