W8 Adulthood Flashcards
What separates childhood from adolescence?
Puberty, with hormonal changes
Adulthood: the line of separation from adolescence is blurred
- No clear cut hormonal or other growth changes
- Due to entering of further education characteristics of adulthood (financial independence, marriage and children, establishing own households) are delayed
“emerging adulthood” -
period between late teens (18-19) and early twenties (20-23)
According to developmental psychologists, what are the age frames of adulthood?
• Early Adulthood : (approx.) 20 to 40
• Middle Adulthood : (approx.) 40 to 65
Lifespan?
more than 70 years
Does adulthood have signpost to announce its onset?
no
legal definition of an adult -
person who has reached the age at which they are considered responsible for their own actions, and therefore legally accountable for them
this is referred to as the age of majority which is age 18 in most cultures (variation from 16 to 21)
socio-cultural definition of adult
based on what a culture normatively views as being the required criteria for adulthood, which in turn
influences the definitions of adulthood of individuals within that culture
This may or may not coincide with the legal definition
Adult development -
changes that occur in biological, psychological, and interpersonal domains of human life from the end of adolescence until the end of life
- the changes may be gradual or rapid, and can reflect positive, negative, or no change from previous levels of functioning
- they occur at the cellular level and are partially explained by biological theories of adult development and aging
-biological changes influence psychological and interpersonal/social developmental changes, which are often described by stage theories of human development.
Biopsychosocial Metatheory of Adult Development:
states that in order to understand human development in its fullness, biological, psychological and social levels of analysis must be included as described in the four premises below:
- Human development happens concurrently at biological, psychological and social levels throughout life, and a full descriptive account of development must include all three levels.
- Development at each of these three levels reciprocally influences the other two levels; therefore nature (biology) and nurture (social environment) are in constant complex interaction, when considering how and why psychological development occurs.
- Biological, psychological and social descriptions and explanations are all as valid as each other, and no level has causal primacy over the other two.
- Any aspect of human development is best described and explained in relation to the whole person and their social context, as well as to their biological and cognitive-affective parts.
adulthood is not uniform and it is characterised by many important changes:
majority of these changes are related to changes in social roles and adjustments to major life events such as:
- Getting married
- Having children
- Moving houses
- Getting and changing jobs
- Experiencing the death of loved ones (parents, older relatives etc)
Mid-Life Crisis -
- Realisation that ones half of life is almost over
- Self reflection on family, children, career, choices
- The Empty Nest Syndrome
=> Seeking another chance to live
Normative Physical Changes in Adulthood
• Physical development in midlife and beyond include changes at the biological level and one observes changes and problems at larger organs and at musculoskeletal levels.
• Sensory changes and degeneration begin to be common in midlife. Degeneration can include the break down of muscle, bones and joints, leading to physical ailments such as arthritis
• At the sensory level, changes occur to vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell, and taste. Two common sensory changes that begin in midlife include our ability to see close objects and our ability to hear high pitches
Physical Illnesses associated with Adulthood
• Cancer: Research indicate a distinctive connection between aging and cancer. It has been shown that the majority of cancer cases occur in those over 50 years of age. This may be due to the decline in strength of the immune system as one ages or due to co-existing conditions.
• Arthritis: Osteoarthritis is one of the most commonly experienced illnesses in adults as they age. Although there are a variety of types of arthritis they all include very similar symptoms: aching joints, stiff joints, continued joint pain, and problems moving joints.
• Cardiovascular Disease: It has been found that older age does increase the risk factor of contracting a cardiovascular disease. Hypertension and high cholesterol have also been found to increase the likelihood of acquiring a cardiovascular disease, which are also commonly found in older adults.
• Immune System: Infection occurs more easily as one ages, as the immune system starts to slow and become less effective.
Adulthood is also characterised by an exacerbation of psychological and psychiatric disorders:
Gaining, changing and loosing social roles can be stressful. Prolonged stress can have serious negative consequences for the immune and endocrine systems and quite often this leads to onset or exacerbation of symptoms of:
- Anxiety Disorders
- Depression
- Psychotic Disorders
These disorders are also exacerbated as secondary symptoms or disorders to primary physical illnesses such as cancer, cardiovascular disorders, disorders of the immune system (e.g. AIDS) etc.
