AGing Flashcards
positive attitude toward self, accurate perception of reality mastery of the environment, autonomy, personal balance, growth + self actualization
Mental Health
Multidimensional approach) Biological forces, health problems increase with age + provide clues about psychological difficulties; Psychological forces, normative changes can mimic mental disorders, nature of personal relationships; Sociocultural forces, cultural differences must be taken into account; Life-cycle forces, influence of one’s past experience
psychopathology
Looking at behaviors, not in global sense, but through considering what else is happening in an individual’s life and if behaviors fit what is happening / specific circumstances
Differentiating mental health and psychopathology:
What are the key dimensions used for categorizing psychopathology?
Biological forces, psychological forces, sociocultural forces, life-cycle forces
Why are ethnicity and aging important variables to consider in understanding mental health
Social disparities may result in different prevalence of mental disorders, inadequate access to healthcare, contextual differences in ethnic communities (ex: degree of comfort revealing information about self to strangers)
Consider cultural norms
certain groups look down on receiving mental health treatment.
Ex: In Korea, higher depression in women, higher suicide in men
How does the Multidimensional Life-Span Approach to Psychopathology help in the interpretation of adults’ behaviors?
This approach helps in the interpretation of adults’ behaviors as it is multi-dimensional, thus taking several different forces into account while analyzing adult behavior.
biological forces
may give insight on disorders such as dementia which often has a specific genetic basis, thus improving the diagnosis
Psychological forces
force us to consider the life tasks of younger and older people, younger people increase social groups and gain more connections whereas older people begin to lose connections, thus the nature of personal relationships may mimic psychopathology
Sociocultural
forces take into account cultural differences which influence interpretations of our own and other’s behaviors; For example, a highly paranoid older person may just have fallen victim to scams thus warranting their degree of paranoia or suspicion toward strangers or the internet, to avoid exploitation
life-cycle forces
take a look at a person’s experiences and how those experiences influence their current behavior.
What key areas are included in the multidimensional approach to assessment?
Physical health, cognitive functioning, psychological functioning, daily living skills, social and environmental resources
What factors influence the assessment of adults?
Negative and positive biases and nonoptimal environment
How are mental health issues assessed
Clinical interview:
Report by others: .
Psychophysiological assessments:
Performance based assessment:
Delirium
confused thinking and reduced awareness of one’s environment. Difficulties with attention, memory, orientation, and rambling speech. May also affect perception, sleep-wake cycle, personality, and mood.
. Delirium
rapid onset, can vary greatly over a day, is more severe in adults, and may go undetected.
Delirium
May be caused by a number of factors such as mental conditions, dehydration, substance intoxication, sleep deprivation, fever, etc.
Delirium
Older adults take more medications than any other age group, which can often cause
How is delirium assessed
through the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM), which assesses the four features
four features of delirium
- Acute onset + fluctuation
- Inattention
- Disorganized thinking
- Altered level of consciousness
dementia
general term for loss of memory and other cognitive abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life; Characterized by cognitive and behavioral deficits involving some form of permanent brain damage
Dementia
not caused by a rapid onset of a toxic substance or by acute infection.
What are the major symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
gradual changes in cognitive function, declines in personal hygiene and self-care skills, inappropriate social behavior, changes in personality, and sundowning
Factor linked to Alzheimer’s
Neurological changes: rapid cell death, neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid plaques
Changes in blood flow in the brain
Factor linked to Alzheimer’s
Impairment in the brain’s ability to use glucose
Alzheimer’s
leads to nerve cell death and tissue loss throughout the brain. Over time, brain shrinks dramatically which affects nearly all functions.
What intervention options are there
Memory improvement drugs
Effective behavioral strategies:
What role to friends play across adulthood?
Friendships determine how one enjoys their life.
In later life, the quality and purpose of friendship has more meaning. Having good friends could help buffer against the common losses experienced in later life.
What role to friends play across adulthood?
Friends help each other foster independence, especially when it comes to concerns of burdening one’s family.
Social Baseline Theory:
Integrates the study of social relationships with principles of attachment, behavioral ecology, cognitive neuroscience, and perception science.
Social Selectivity Theory
As people grow older and their time starts to be perceived as limited, their motivational orientation begins to change.
Social contact is motivated by a variety of person-focused goals
- Seek emotion and meaning.
- Self-concept.
- Positivity preference in attention + memory;
Perceptions of time
Acquaintance
: identifying mutual interests
- Begins after identifying a new personality in a crowd or group either accidentally or by chance.
Buildup
: determining compatibility
- The relationship becomes intense: interdependence, sharing of passions, values, beliefs, etc., and caring for each other.
Continuation
: making a show of commitment
- Requires mutual commitment and trust.
Deterioration
: breakdown in communication
- May not occur.
- Happens under various circumstances due to varied reasons: relative effort, rewards, barriers to exiting, availability of alternatives.
What characterizes love relationships
Passion, intimacy, and commitment
Passion
intense physiological desire to be with someone
Intimacy
feel free to share thoughts, actions, feeling of connectedness
Commitment:
willingness to maintain relationships in good times and bad
Friendship turns to romantic love through a predictable progression:
dismissive attachment higher in
North America
preoccupied attachment higher in
East Asian cultures
abusive relationships
when one person becomes aggressive toward the partner.
Women, men and LGBTQ members
have higher rates of violence from intimate partners whereas have lower rates
Types of elder abuse
physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological, financial, or material, abandonment neglect, healthcare fraud and abuse.
Why do people cohabit? (1)
- Part time or limited cohabitation: usually based on convenience, sharing expenses, and sexual accessibility.
Why do people cohabit? (2)
- Premarital cohabitation: engaging in a trial marriage, if the relationship ends the couple separates (younger couples
Why do people cohabit? (3)
- Substitute marriage: a long-term commitment between two people without legal marriage (older couples)
Gay men
tend to separate love and sex and have more short-term relationships.
- Lesbian and heterosexual women
more likely to connect sex and emotional intimacy in fewer, longer lasting relationships
Marriage in early years:
- Adjustment, settle in routines, birth of child; decline in marital satisfaction.
Marriage at midlife:
- Children leave home; marital satisfaction improves.
- For some, low satisfaction remains = married singles
Marriage in later years:
- Marital conflict may reduce.
- Greater potential for pleasure.
- Benefits.
Marital satisfaction
highest at the beginning of the marriage, falls until children leave home, then rises in later life
Early divorce
negative emotions displayed.
Later divorce
lack of positive emotions displayed
parent
Deciding to become a is complicated, and finances are of great concern.
