Transcription of Late Adulthood
1 343 CHAPTER 9 late AdulthoodnOUTLINEPHYSICAL DEVELOPMENTDURING late Adulthood Physical development Health issuesCOGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTDURING LATEADULTHOOD Beyond Piaget s theory Information-processingduring late adulthoodSOCIAL AND EMOTIONALDEVELOPMENT DURING late Adulthood Emotional development Self and others Psychosocial development When does old age begin?Should this depend on chrono-logical age or a life event such as retirement from work?Although many people maintain that old age is a state ofmind, there are several life events that signal the beginningof late Adulthood .
2 These are tied to chronology, just asother life events are in previous stages of the life sixty-five is considered a milestone and the begin-ning of late Adulthood . Reaching this age generally bringsabout retirement from work, eligibility for Social Securityand Medicare benefits, income tax advantages, reducedfares and admission prices to leisure events, and specialpurchase or discount privileges. It is projected that by theyear 2020, approximately of the population will besixty-five years of age or older (up from in 1900, in 1950, and in 2000) (Himes, 2001).
3 Thispercentage is expected to increase to by in modern medical care, better health prac-tices, improved nutrition, and other factors keep people inbetter health and living longer today (Himes, 2001). Forthese and other reasons, the period of late Adulthood canbe divided into five subcategories based on age by decade(Burnside, Ebersole & Monea, 1979). Please note that origi-nally there were only four subcategories; however, the cat-egory of centenarians has been added due to an increasingnumber of people living past one hundred.
4 These subcate-gories are described below. Neugarten (1978) was amongthe first to recognize that not all individuals in late adult-hood are disabled or feeble. These age divisions help tocreate a more realistic and positive impression of the eld-erly. Upon reading about them, you may conclude cor-rectly that late Adulthood comprises a diverse group ofindividuals. In this respect, it is like every other stage dis-cussed in this young-old (sixty to sixty-nine years): Societyexpects people in their sixties to have less energy,responsibility, and independence in Adulthood .
5 Thisexpectation demoralizes people and serves as a self-ful-filling prophecy. True, physical strength declines fromearlier periods of the life span. Despite this limitation,many individuals in this age bracket are energetic, activein volunteer work, pursue hobbies and interests, leadvigorous lifestyles, and are in a state of good health(Kovar, 1986a, b; Kovar & LaCroix, 1987; Ries & Brown,1991). Release from work and financial responsibilitiesgives them the chance to redirect their energies to activi-ties that please them.
6 Self-improvement, sometimes evenin the form of entrance into college degree programs, isactively pursued by many people this middle-aged old (seventy to seventy-nine years):Losses characterize this decade. Deaths of spouses andfriends occur more frequently. Health problems become apreoccupation and restrict activities within and outside thehome, which can further shrink a person s social world. Asignificant challenge for people in their seventies is toretain the reintegration of personality accomplished fol-lowing old-old (eighty to eighty-nine years): People in thisage bracket find it increasingly difficult to adapt to theeffects of the advanced aging process.
7 Housing and physi-cal space are often obstacles to effective living. People intheir eighties become more preoccupied with their memo-ries and interested in relating their past living experiencesto others. Health problems become more frequent, severe,and of longer duration. Some people need to be cared forby others, which could be within a family member s home,a nursing home, or some other supervised living very old-old (ninety to ninety-nine years): Thereare far fewer people in this age bracket, so we have very lit-tle accurate information about them.
8 Obviously, healthproblems play a central role in their lifestyles. People intheir nineties have very limited physical and social activity,but they appear to be happy, serene, and fulfilled(Bretschneider & McCoy, 1988).Centenarians (one hundred years and older): Cente-narians are a particularly hardy and diverse group of indi-viduals (Duenwald, 2003). They are known for theirpositive dispositions and lower rates of chronic illness andage-related disabilities that plague their younger, elderlypeers.
9 More women than men live to be one hundred;however, men tend to maintain greater health and many centenarians avoided smokingand obesity throughout life, others live to be one hundredor more despite suboptimal nutrition, little exercise, envi-ronmental toxins, and poor lifestyle choices (such as smok-ing). A few common themes among centenarians includeremaining emotionally close and involved with loved onesthroughout life, achieving financial security, and stayingmentally active ( , reading, writing, and cross word puz-zles).
10 Such extreme longevity seems to run in families,hinting that genetics may play a role. Researchers hope toidentify the genetic factors that promote such longevity inorder to develop drugs that will mimic these genetic effectsin are more women than men in all of the sub-categories of late Adulthood (Himes, 2001). This differ-ence is because men have higher mortality rates than344 CHAPTER9nLate Adulthoodnwomen throughout life. In general, for every one hun-dred girls born, one hundred and five boys are born (ofcourse, sex-selection during IVF or abortion can skewthese numbers).
