Middle Adulthood

(Age 35-60)

Physical Changes

• Vision: Eye muscles weaken, restricting ability to focus on objects at varying distances (presbyopia "old eyes" by age 60)
• Hearing: Notable hearing loss by age 50 at high frequencies. (presbycusis)
  • Faster loss among men. blood pressure? smoking? jobs?
• Muscle-Fat: trend towards more fat and less muscle, in part due to slower metabolism. Light exercise and more fruits/veggies helps.
• Skeleton: rapid loss of bone strength and "shortening" due to spine.
  • Calcium and Vitamin D help

Climacteric & Menopause

• Climacteric: the gradual loss of fertility
• Menopause: the end of menstruation and fertility. (late 30s - late 50s, early 50s on avg)
  • Associated with hot flashes and a decline in sexual functioning
  • Drop in estrogen results in less bone mass, skin elasticity, and "good cholesterol"
  • NOT linked to irritability, depression or sleep issues
  • Hormone therapy mitigates issues, but comes with risks (i.e. stroke, cancer, Alzheimers, etc)

Menopause and Culture

• "new beginning" or "beginning of the end"
• SES as well as physical or psychological health linked to reactions
• In the US, both Black and Latina women found to hold more a positive view than white women.
  • menopause "overshadowed" by by other factors in self-rated quality of life

Climacteric in males

• Quantity of sperm produced decreases after 20s,
  • amount of semen decreases after 40s
• Some loss of testosterone, but minimal when healthy and sexually active
• Impotence more often tied to:
  • Heart health, injuries, disease, and mental health (anxiety and depression)
  • $1 billion annually spent on ED medication

Sexuality in Middle Adulthood

• Still important and enjoyable to most
• Slight drop among married couple
  • best predictor of decrease is marital happiness
• Slower arousal changes sexual pace
• Gender gap:
  • Men w/o a partner increases 8% to 12%
  • Women w/o a partner increases 9% to 40%

Illness and Death

• Cancer accounts for 1/3 of midlife deaths
  • Higher in low SES, higher among men
• Cardiovascular disease accounts for 1/4 of midlife deaths
  • "silent killers"- High blood pressure, cholesterol, atherosclerosis
• Osteoporosis: Bone loss resulting in fragile bones. Impacted by genes, lifestyle, hormones
  • Prevent with: Vitamine D, Calcium, weight-bearing exercise.
• Stress (and anger) exacerbates all health risks

Schaie' Seattle Longitudinal Study (1999;2005)

Intelligence tests and the Cohort effect

• Societal trend? an issue with the tests? Flynn effect?

Cognition in Middle Adulthood

• crystallized intelligence: accumulated knowledge and experience
• fluid intelligence: basic processing skills
• Perceptual speed decreases from 20s, but other measures peak in middle adulthood (Verba, Numeric, Reasoning, etc)
  • This slowing down after 45 can be compensated with cognitive strategies
• Reduced use of memory strategies, attention difficulties

Cognition and life context

• Much of cognition is preserved by stimulating non-routine work
  • extends into stimulating leisure pursuits
• Adults can maintain plasticity--intersection of ageism & classism?
• Adult learning: 39% college students over the age of 25
  • May face ageism, gender stereotypes and "role overload"

Social Development

• Erikson: Generativity v Stagnation, the need to give to and guide the next generation (often through parenthood)
• Commitment to self (identity) a partner (intimacy) and beyond (generativity)
• Midlife crisis: During the 40s, realizing more time is behind than ahead
  • Unable to resolve regrets
  • typical for those who had needs limited in early adulthood (gender roles, poverty, family pressure, etc)
     

Levinson's Seasons of Life

Four tasks to re-asses themselves shifting into middle adulthood (40-45):

1. Young-old: Finding new ways of being both young and old, finding positive meaning in changes
2. Destruction-creation: Awareness of past destructive actions, urge to improve their legacy
3. Masculinity-femininity: A move towards androgyny. Accepting of both masc/fem traits.
4. Engagement-separateness: Scaling back personal time (e.g. career) to be with loved ones

Life-Events Approach

Perspective focusing on particular challenges being faced

Positive

• Generally highest income
• Fewest expenses
• Stability in home and work
• Greater immersion in family/social life

Negative

•  Death of parents, peers, spouse
• Health challenges
• Caring for own parents & children
• Concerns about ones appearance
• Changes in employability

Sandwich Generation

Changing Parent and Child relationships

• Elderly parent care often falls on daughters
• Child care of adolescents-emerging adults often falls on mothers
• Many middle-aged women will often work as well
• Both parents and children face push-pull relationships over self-determination.
• Middle-Adult siblings often grow closer/apart depending on how duties are shared.

Personality  Shifts in MA

• "Big Five" personality traits mostly remain stable over time with few exceptions
• Neuroticism decreases over time
• Agreeableness and conscientiousness increase over time
• Extroversion/Openess decline slightly

Friends & Dating

• Middle-Adults tend to have fewer but more-valued friends
• Friends tend to be more similar in terms of interests and experiences
• Fewer and less intimate friendships among men

• Dating has fewer "interview aspects"-- focus on getting to know eachother
• However, fewer opportunities. MA often "pushed out" of singles spaces (e.g. Tinder)