MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

• Changing Midlife


  the boundaries of middle age are being pushed upward, transition from work to retirement
• Middle Adulthood


  40-45 yrs if age and extends to about 60-65 yrs of age
• Middle Age


  influenced by sociocultural factors, pivotal period because it is a time of balancing growth and decline
• Physical Changes - most visible sign of aging, more gradual
• Height and weight - men from 30-50 yrs old lose one inch in their height then another another inch from 50-70 yrs old
• Height loss for women

  2 inches from 25-75 yrs old
• Muscle loss


  1-2% per yr after age 50, loss of strength occurs in the back and legs
• Sarcopenia


  age-related loss of muscle mass and strength
• Vision -

  Vision - difficulty viewing close objects, at 60 yrs old the retina receives only 1/3 as much light as it did 20 yrs of agey viewing close objects, at 60 yrs old the retina receives only 1/3 as much light as it did 20 yrs of age
• Hearing


  decline by age 40, hearing loss up to 50% percent of 50 yrs olds and older
• Lungs 


  proteins in lung tissue become less elastic
• Cardiovascular System


  high blood pressure and high cholesterol often take adults by surprise
• Sleep


  at 40s, wakeful periods are more frequent and less of the deepest type of sleep
• Stress and Disease


  Cumulative effect or stress often takes a toll on the health, can have damaging effects, can interfere with immune functioning
• Mortality rate


  chronic diseases are main causes of death
• Climacteric


  midlife transition in which fertility declines
• Menopause


  menstrual period cease
• Male hypogonadism


  body does not produce enough testosterone
• Crystallized Intelligence


  accumulated information and verbal skills continues to increase in middle adulthood
• Fluid Intelligence


  ability to reason abstractly begins to decline in middle adulthood
• Memory


  decline in memory, more time needed to learn new information, changes in working memory
• Work in Midlife


  reach their peak in position and earnings
• Religion, Spirituality and Adult lives - powerful influences for some adults but hold little or no significance for others
• Adult stage theories have been plentiful and they have contributed to the view that midlife brings a crisis in development
• Generativity 


  encompasses adults' desire to leave legacies of themselves to the next generation
• Stagnation (self-absorption)


  individuals sense that they have done nothing for the next generation
• Generative adults


  commit themselves to the continuation and improvement of society
• Biological generativity 


  adults have offspring
• Work generativity


  adults develop skills that are passed down to others
• Cultural generativity


  adults create, renovate, or conserve some aspect of culture that ultimately survives
• Levinson's Seasons of a Man's Life


  transition to middle adulthood lasts about five years (40-45) requires a male with 4 major conflicts that existed since adolescence. 1. being young vs being old 2. being destructive vs being constructive 3 being masculine vs being feminine 4. being attached to others vs being separated from them
• Erikson's Stage of Generativity vs Stagnation
• George Vaillant - the 40s are decade of reassessing and recording the truth about the adolescent and adulthood years
• Midlife crisis 


  triggered by life events such as job loss, financial problems, or illness
• Middle Age


  a time when a person's sense of control is frequently challenged
• Women


  more vulnerable to stressors, more likely to be depressed
• Historical Context (Cohort effects) 


  changing historical times and different social expectations influence how different groups born in the same year move through lifespan
• Gender Contexts 


  midlife is a negative age period for women is stereotypical
• Cultural Contexts 


  concept of middle age is not very clear or in some cases is absent
• Love and Marriage at Midlife 


  marital satisfaction increased in middle age