MIDDLE

ADULTHOOD

• 40s and 50s

 Middle Adulthood
• What is Middle Age??
• Starting later, lasting longer: “60 is the new 40”
• Life expectancy from 47 to 78+
• Healthier lifestyles
• Medical discoveries
• Ex: mastectomy
• 64-75: consider themselves middle-aged (*sometimes)
• Dividing line between middle-adulthood to old-age is
retirement from your job.
• More and more people are working part-time because the
retirement-age has been pushed back further.
 Middle Adulthood:
Physical Development

PHYSICAL CHANGES:
•Physical changes
•Sexuality
•Health, disease, stress, control
•Mortality

- Noticeable Signs:
•1st visible signs of aging
•Skin: wrinkles/sags, loss of fat and collagen, skin loosens,
muscle cells no-longer strong, change in skin-tone, small brown
spots/pigmentation due to sun exposure
•Hair: grey hair due to melanin reduction
•Fingernails and toenails: develop ridges, thicker and more
brittle
•Efforts to look younger:
 Middle Adulthood:
Physical Development

PHYSICAL CHANGES:

Height and Weight

•Lose height, gain weight
•Larger numbers overweight
•-diseases
•Earlier death
•Loss in height due to bone loss (1/2 to 1 inch)
•Spine curves as you grow older
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Physical Changes:Strength, Joints,

Bones
• Muscle mass, strength decrease
• Joints stiffen
• -movement more difficult (1-2% per year in middle-adulthood)
• Loss of strength in your back and legs
• Progressive bone loss
• -bones break easily, heal slowly
• Consistent bone loss in density: women lose bone-mass twice as
fast
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Physical Changes: Hearing

• Starts to decline (50% of what it was)
• Less sensitive to high pitch (what deteriorates first)
• Men decline earlier than women (men occupations have
detrimental hearing in certain occupations (construction))
• Hearing aids help
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Physical Changes: Vision

• Sharpest decline in middle-adulthood
• -eye focus, maintain image
• Viewing close objects
• Loss of blood supply to eye (diminishes)
• Less light, smaller pupil (when you turn 60).
• Laser surgery, lens implants
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Physical Changes:
Cardiovascular System
• Disease increases
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol (increases on the walls of arteries)
• Can be prevented using medication and exercise
• Drugs helpful
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Physical Changes: Lungs

• Little or no change
• Late stage- decrease in capacity
• Lower lung function + reduced cognitive ability later
• Smokers at high risk
• Decreased lung function contributes to reduced
cognitive activity later in life.
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Physical Changes: Sleep

• Sleep problems increase
• Waking up more often
• Sleep-disordered breathing
• Restless leg-syndrome
• Decrease in cognitive functioning
• Increased risk of stroke
• Adults who sleep less than 6 hours have a higher risk of
stroke
• and poor cognitive function.
• More common in prescription drugs, overweight,
depressed or have cardiovascular problems.
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• SEXUALITY
• Menopause
• Sexual intercourse less frequent
• Men’s thoughts more than women’s
• No change in: kissing, hugging, touching, oral sex,
masturbation
• highest during 25-29
• Linked to how healthy you are
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• HEALTH, DISEASE, STRESS, and

CONTROL
• Fewer accidents, colds, allergies
• Increase in chronic disorders
-arthritis, hypertension
• Men: fatal heart, cancer, stroke
• Women: nonfatal arthritis, varicose veins, bursitis
• The frequency of chronic disorders varies by gender. Men have a much higher incidence of
getting chronic diseases. Women are more likely to have non-fatal disease.
• Stressors have combined effect
• Immune system declines
• Environment stresses the heart
• Sense of control peaks, helps health and well-being
• -delays disease onset
 Middle Adulthood:
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• MORTALITY
• Chronic disease main cause:
Cancer, cardiovascular disease Men > Women
Men have a higher mortality than women.
 Middle Adulthood:
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Intelligence and
•
Information Processing
Expertise
• Practical problem solving.
• Intelligence:
• 4-6 mental abilities highest:
• verbal ability (comprehension)
• verbal memory
• spatial orientation
• inductive reasoning
• Highest in these abilities during your ‘40’s.
• 2 mental abilities decline:
- number ability
- Perceptual speed
- So peak in many skills
- Slower to respond naturally as you age
 Middle Adulthood:
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• EXPERTISE
• Extensive, organized knowledge in a domain
• Being an “expert” years of experience, learning, effort
• Uses experiences to solve problems
• Process information quickly and analyze it effectively
• Better strategies, shortcuts to solve problems
• More creative, flexible problem-solving
 Middle Adulthood:
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• PRACTICAL PROBLEM-SOLVING
• High in this stage due to accumulated practical experiences
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Erikson’s 7th Stage

• Erikson’s Generativity vs. Stagnation
-Generativity: leaving a legacy to the next generation, immortality
-biological
-parental
-work
-cultural: creating, renovating, preserving something
• Stagnation
– Stagnation: self-abosorption; not leaving anything to the next generation
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• PERSONALITY: CHANGES and

STABILITY
• “Does personality change in adults?”
• 5 major personality traits (Big Five):
– Neuroticism/Emotional stability: erratic, being anxious, irritable, temperamental, and moody.
– Extraversion: being outgoing, talkative, sociable and enjoy social situations
– Agreeableness: being affable, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind and warm, sensitive to your needs, tolerant
– Openness to experience: curious, intellectual, open to learning, observing, flexible, think outside the box.
– Conscientiousness: very orderly, organized, structured, punctual, dependable, achievement oriented
– (OCEAN)
– Generally stable across adulthood: C- progressive, NEAO plateau.
– Early adulthood showed most change
• Personality predicts:
• Physical health: EAC: health, blood
pressure, absences
• N: Health complaints
• O: Cognitive functioning, IQ
• C: Entrepreneurship, success
• A: happy, romantic relationships
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• MIDLIFE CRISES
• Very rate, despite stereotype
• Emotional stability high
• If experienced crisis, due to negative life event, not aging
• Most cognitive skills speak
• Well-being, life satisfaction high
• Highest mastery, autonomy, relationships
• 26% have not experienced midlife crisis
• WOMEN:
• Many changes for women
Family, parenting more important
Balancing career with family
Change to empty nester, more income, better health,
parent concerns
More confident, involved, secure
Positive time for women and men: due to more disposable
income, less stress, more secure
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• STRESS & PERSONAL CONTROL

Do middle-aged see stress the same?
• Early adults more frequent
• Middle adults more “overloaded”
• Middle adults less distressed, reactive to
stressors
• Do middle-aged think they have
control over what happens to them
• Personal control peaks in most
domains
• High-control in finances, work,
marriage
• Low control in sex life, children
• Uplifters • Hassles
• Relate w/ spouse or • Weight concerns
lover • Health of family
• Relate with friends • Rising prices
• Complete a task • Home maintenance
• Feel healthy • Too much to do
• Get enough sleep
• Misplace/lose things
• Outside home upkeep
• Eat out • Investments, taxes
• Meet responsibilities • Crime
• Visit, contact someone • Physical appearance
• Time with family
• Home inside is pleasing
• Reactions to stress
• Women vs. men
• More depressed from social stressors
• -romance, family, work, divorce, death
• -”Tend-and-befriend” – seek social support
• Men vs. Women
• “fight-or-flight”-aggression, alcohol,
withdrawal
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS: Marriage

• -marriage
• Divorce
• Empty nest and refill
• Intergenerational relationships
• Security, loyalty, mutual interests
• Marital satisfaction
• Less housework and chores
• More time together
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS: Divorce

• Positive Outcomes
• -Less traumatic
• More resources
• Children older so cope better
• Better self-understanding
• Women initiating divorce for self
• Perceived as failure, betrayal
• For some, lower economics
• For most positive, right decision
• Initiated more by women
• Women: abuse, alcohol/drugs, cheating
• Men: nothing obvious, fell out of love, cheating, different values
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS: Empty

Nest & Refilling
• Adjusting to child leaving home
• Decline in marital satisfaction
• More time to pursue career
• More time to spend quality time with each other
• Children returning home to live
• “Boomerang kids”
• “BB2” (Back-to-bedroom)

•
• Refilling the empty nest
• Creates many negatives
• Loss of privacy for parents, child
• Parents restricting/controlling child
• Parents worry about child
• Home noisier
• Difficulty planning meals
• Disrupts parents’ relationship
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS:
Intergenerational
Relationships
• Family importance/caring/providing
• The “Sandwich Generation”
• -caring for children and aging parents
• Women especially do care-taking

•
-Mothers and daughters
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• CAREERS and WORK

• Central role in mid-life
• Peak time for position, wages
• More financial burden
• Most middle-aged adults work
• Time to re-evaluate, reflect
• Limits to career progress
• Decision to change jobs, career
• Rebalancing work and family
• Planning for retirement
• Current challenges: globalization of work, rapid technology
changes, downsizing, early retirement
 Middle Adulthood:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• LEISURE
• Reassessing priorities
• Later regrets
• More money available
• More free time, paid vacations
• If you don’t take vacation, ill, die earlier
• Leisure preparing for retirement