Lifespan Development Final Study Guide: Key Concepts and Theories, Exams of Nursing

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Lifespan development final study guide

Introduction To Life Span Developmental

Psychology (The Ohio State University)

Life-Span Development Final Exam Study Guide Erikson’s stages in middle and late adulthood

• Stages in middle adulthood:
• Ego integrity vs. despair o Ego integrity- the sense that one has lived a useful life; coming to terms with death and accepting its uncertainty o Despair- failure to achieve ego integrity and feelings of hopelessness because there would be too little time to make changes before death
• Stages in late adulthood:
• Generativity vs. Stagnation o Generativity- reaching out to others in ways that give to and guide the next generation ▪ Focused on generating things that can outlive the self and ensure society’s continuity and improvement - Largely benefits the family, community and world o Stagnation- lack of interest in others ▪ Pursuits are self-centered and self-indulgent ▪ Enhancing own well-being Average life expectancy
• The number of years that an individual born in a particular year can expect to live for o The average is 78. o Influenced by genes and the environment ▪ Nature and nurture

• Bargaining o Third stage of dying, in which the dying person develops the hope that death can somehow be postponed.
• Depression o Fourth stage of dying, in which the dying person comes to accept the certainty of her or his death. A period of depression or preparatory grief may appear.
• Acceptance o Fifth stage of dying, in which the dying person develops a sense of peace, an acceptance of her or his fate, and, in many cases a desire to be left alone. Midlife crisis: characteristics and prevalence
• Middle adulthood is a time of intense psychological turmoil
• Uncertainty and indecision brought on by realization that life is finite o Self-doubt
• Less satisfied by their accomplishments
• Prevalence: a midlife crisis is more of an exception than a rule…not very common Life evaluation and its components—SAE
• Common in midlife
• Includes:
• Self-acceptance
• Autonomy
• Environmental mastery- there are things you focus on that you’re good at Five factors of personality (Costa & McCrae) & changes in adulthood—OCEAN
• Openness

• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion Talk to anyone about anything
• Agreeableness Extent to get along with other people
• Neuroticism Negative emotion, pessimistic, irritable, on edge all the time Empty nest syndrome
• Parents’ experiences of unhappiness, worry, loneliness and depression from their children’s departure from the home Possible reasons for longevity in Okinawa, Japan
• Diet Eat very healthy, less likely to get cancer
• Low-stress lifestyle
• Caring communality Do not isolate nor ignore their oldest adults Lowest suicides, of older women in east Asia, perhaps due to support
• Activity Physically vigorous- walks, working in gardens, many continue working at their jobs
• Spirituality Find purpose in spiritual practice Prayer is commonplace and believed to ease mind of stress and problems o o o o o o o o o

• Remote (29%)
• Companionate (~54%)
• Involved (16%)
• Living nearby is the strongest predictor of frequent interaction with grandchildren
• Relationships with son-in law and daughter-in-law also strongly affects closeness of the grandparents to grandchildren
• The book states the three types are formal, fun-seeking and distant—FFD o Formal- the grandparent performed what was considered to be a proper and prescribed role ▪ Strong interest in grandchildren but careful not to give child-rearing advice o Fun-seeking- grandparent was informal and playful ▪ Grandchildren were a source of leisure activity; mutual satisfaction was emphasized o Distant- grandparent was benevolent (caring) but interaction was infrequent. Sandwich generation
• Middle-aged adults who must care for multiple generations—above and below them at the same time o Own children and parents o Responsibility usually falls more on women/daughters than sons o Can be very stressful and leads to role strain/overload Language change in old age
• Difficulty retrieving words and problems understanding spoken language in certain contexts

o Tip-of the tongue phenomenon- individuals are confident that they can remember something just can’t retrieve it from memory o More difficult to understand speed when speech is rapid, competing stimuli are present, and when they can’t see their conversation partner ▪ Could be due to hearing loss

• Speech is typically lower in volume, slower, less precisely articulated, and less fluent o But adequate for everyday communication
• Some changes in discourse (extended verbal expression in speech or writing) o I.e. retelling a story
• Could be due to slower information processing speed and decline in working memory Atchley’s stages of worker to retiree transition; factors that affect adjustment to retirement
• Stages—PHDR o Pre-retirement phase- gather info, talk about retirement and plan for the future o Honeymoon phase- relish in new found freedom ▪ Found right after retire o Disenchantment phase- novelty wears off ▪ 1-1.5 years after retiring o Reorientation phase- put together a realistic and satisfying lifestyle ▪ Money, social support, make a difference
• Factors that affect adjustment to retirement o Planning ahead is key (but not many do) o Loss of income and status o Active lifestyle = happiness

• For both men and women verbal ability, verbal memory, inductive reasoning and spatial orientation peak in middle age
• Number and perception decline in middle age
• Declines in middle adulthood could be predictive of cognitive impairment in late adulthood Characteristics of cognition at middle age and late adulthood ▪ Multidirectionality- some aspects improve and other aspects decline or remain stable ▪ Interindividual variability- patterns of change vary from one person to another ▪ Plasticity: not fixed; can be modified under the right conditions ▪ Example: mature learners ▪ Despite decline in some areas, people hold some of the most powerful and important positions in society in middle adulthood Lose abilities due to biological deterioration Able to compensate for reduction of abilities by concentrating on particular skill areas ▪ Declines—AMP Dividing and switching attention Less effective memory strategies Perceptual speed ▪ Increases—PEC Practical problem solving: size up real world situations and analyze how best to achieve goals that have a high degree of uncertainty Expertise: extensive, highly organized, and integrated knowledge base Creativity: ability to produce original, appropriate, and valuable ideas and/or solutions to a problem ▪ Middle-aged adults are in their cognitive prime for:

Verbal abilities Inductive reasoning Verbal memory Spatial orientation Numeric ability Hospice and palliative care

• Hospice- a program committed to making the end of life as free from pain, anxiety, and depression as possible. The goals of hospice contract with those of a hospital, which are to cure disease and prolong life.
• Palliative care- care emphasized in a hospice, which involves reducing pain and suffering and helping individuals die with dignity Boomerang children
• Young adults who return, after leaving home for some period, to live in the homes of their middle-aged parents o I.e. because of divorce or lack of a job Cardiovascular disease risk factors in middle adulthood ▪ Disease processes involving the heart and circulatory system Genetic predisposition Lifestyle choices Psychological factors: Type A vs. Type B personality Anger- hostility (higher heart disease) vs. okay well, I’ll take it but not going to do anything

▪ It’s In our genes, how many times our cells will divide o Normal stress theory- stress hormones are left at elevated levels following illnesses making the body more vulnerable to chronic conditions ▪ As you get older, stress hormones elevate o Immunological theory- the immune systems is preset to decline by an internal biological clock

• Cellular damage theories- aging results from damage to cells o Wear and tear theory- our bodies are like machines that wear out by being used and become less capable of repairing themselves o Free-radical theory- aging is the result of damage caused by the accumulation of unstable molecules called free radicals (antioxidants prevent) ▪ Produced by metabolism of energy by oxidation, possibly damaging cells, proteins, membranes, and DNA ▪ Impairs mitochondrial functioning - Prepare for self repair Contemporary life events approach
• Approach emphasizing that how a life event influences the individual’s development depends not only on the life event, but also on mediating factors, the individual’s adaption to the life event, the life-stage context, and the sociohistorical context Substages of late adulthood and functional age
• Young-old= 65-74 yrs.
• Old-old= 75-84 yrs.
• Oldest-old= 85+
• Can very widely in their functioning

o Declines are pretty mild in the first two substages, but become much steeper among the oldest-old ▪ Gerontologist- study old people Physical changes in middle adulthood

• Most brain and physical changes are not noticeable until about 60 years old
• Gradual changes in physical characteristics and physical abilities o I.e. first grey hair, can’t stay up as late o Emotional reactions to these changes depend on self image
• Slower brain response to cognitive tasks
• Loss of bone mass: bones become weaker and more brittle o Women are at risk for osteoporosis ▪ Lack of vitamin D and Calcium ▪ Weight bearing exercises can help
• “Middle age spread” begins o Metabolism slows ▪ Metabolism: rate at which the body processes/burns food to produce energy o Loss of lean body mass o Gain in body fat
• Decline in strength Religion vs. religiousness vs. spirituality in middle adulthood
• Religion- an organized set of beliefs, practices, rituals, and symbols that increases and individuals connection to a sacred or transcendent other

o I.e. ex-spouse

• Dual process model- a model of coping with bereavement that emphasizes oscillation between two dimensions 1, loss-orientated stresses, and 2, restoration-oriented stressors Factors that influence cognitive decline in late adulthood
• Chronic disease (& the drugs used to treat them)—decreases it o Increased rate of those diagnosed
• Physical exercise—increases it o Just enough to get heart rate up o 3x a week 45 min= healthier and more active brain
• Stimulation
• Educational level o Higher education, more likely to want to go out and do stuff
• Lifestyle o Alcohol (in moderation, it’s not so bad) o Cigarette smoking
• Levels of stress o Chronic/prolonged, kills brain cells
• Personality style
• Marriage to a bright spouse
• Depression o Some isolate, disengaged ▪ More socially isolated, more depressed

▪ Older white males, have an increased suicide rate Dementia

• A set of neurological disorder occurring almost entirely in old age in which all areas of development are so impaired that everyday activities are disrupted
• Incidence rises with age Alzheimer’s (symptoms, brain changes, protective, and risk factors)
• Most common form of dementia in which structural and chemical brain deterioration is associated with progressive and gradual loss of many aspects of thought and behavior
• Slow, subtle memory problems evolve into more severe physical, cognitive, and socioemotional problems o Effects all ways—physical, cognitive, and socioemotional problems
• Will eventually need 24-hour care
• Over 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s
• Getting Alzheimer’s is one of the biggest fears for elderly and those who love someone who’s elderly o Caregivers as secondary victims
• Reduced activity and blood flow
• Neurofibrillary tangles inside neurons
• Amyloid plaques surround the neurons
• Synapse deteriorate
• Risk factors o Advancing age o Family history ▪ Risk genes, can increase likelihood o Head trauma

o Sense of ability, believe you have skills to make things happen, produce positive outcomes o Belief that you’re in control of what happens to you

• Retaining cognitive abilities o Taking art classes etc. o The adults that avoid learning of new skills have more problems with cognition o Social engagement
• Productivity o Channeling energy to do something worthwhile Elder abuse: types, risk factors
• Maltreatment or neglect of elderly individuals
• Types: o Can come in a variety of forms ▪ Physical abuse ▪ Physical neglect ▪ Emotional abuse ▪ Sexual abuse ▪ Financial abuse ▪ Not just in institutions, but in own home o Perpetrator is usually someone who the older person relies for care and assistance o Abuse in nursing homes is of great concern o “Granny dumping”- abandonment of elders with severe disabilities by family caregivers, usually at hospital emergency rooms

• Risk factors: o Dependency of the victim o Dependency of the perpetrator o Psychological disturbance or stress of perpetrator o History of family violence o Institutional conditions
• Prevention/intervention of elder abuse o Immediate protection and provision of unmet needs for the elderly o Social services/support for the caregiver o Role strain- over burdened by all roles you need to fulfill o Volunteer “buddies” who make visits o Agencies providing informal financial services to the elderly o Legal action against perpetrator Ageism
• Prejudice against others because of their age, especially prejudice against older adults Social support and elderly wellbeing
• Convey model of social relations- individuals go through life embedded in a personal network of individuals to whom they give and from whom they receive support
• Social support is related to o Physical and mental health in older adults o Linked with reduction in symptoms of disease o Reduced mortality