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)
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