Transcript bergerls9e_lectureppt_ch17x

• Period between the ages
of 18 and 25, which is
now widely thought of as
a separate developmental
stage
• Millions of young people
now hover before full
adulthood
Lane Oatey/Blue Jean Images/Getty Images
Emerging
Adulthood
Strong and active
bodies
• Emerging adults are
usually in good
health.
• Traditionally, ages 18
and 25 were a time
for hard physical work
and childbearing.
• Physical work and
parenthood are no
longer expected of
every young adult in
the 21st century.
AP PHOTO/AXEL HEIMKEN
Growth and Strength
Growth and Strength
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Because of food availability, most emerging adults
have reached full height (girls usually by age 16,
boys by age 18).
Muscle growth and fat accumulation continue into
the early 20s, when women attain adult breast and
hip size and men reach full shoulder width and
upper-arm strength.
Death from disease almost never occurs during
emerging adulthood.
Strong and Independent
Bodies in Balance
Emerging adulthood
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By age 20, the immune system is well-developed
Usually, blood pressure is normal, teeth develop no new
cavities, heart rate is steady, the brain is fully grown,
and lung capacity is as large as it will ever be.
Senescence
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The process of aging, whereby the body becomes
less strong and efficient.
Begins in late adolescence
PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Dirty Hands
Once men avoided hand
washing—it was too
ladylike.
Then scientists proved
that hand contact spread
every virus, from the
common cold to SARS.
Here famed Ferrari driver
Fernando Alonso joins a
UNICEF hand-washing
day, showing a young lad
in India that he should
wash his knuckles too.
Unused Potential
Organ reserve
•
The capacity of organs to allow the body to cope with
stress, via extra, unused functioning ability
Maximum strength potential
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Begins to decline by age 25
Fifty-year-olds retain 90% of muscle reserve they had at
age 20
Bodies in Balance
Homeostasis
• The adjustment of all the
body’s systems to keep
physiological functions in a
state of equilibrium.
• As the body ages, it takes
longer for these
adjustments to occur, so it
becomes harder for older
bodies to adapt to stress.
• Nutrition and exercise
underlie health at every
age.
Allostasis
• Dynamic body adjustment
that affects overall
physiology
• Homeostasis requires an
immediate response from
the body systems, whereas
allostasis refers to longerterm adjustment.
• Allostatic load refers to the
wear and tear on the body
that results from either too
much stress or inefficient
management of stress.
Ages and Stages
Why do developmental scientists cluster adults into
chronological age groups, reporting differences
between one group and another?
• Age matters to adults as they journey through the
life span.
• Cohorts matters.
• Maturation and experience accumulate.
All Three Together
Interaction of organ reserve to homeostasis
and allostasis
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Health habits in emerging adulthood affect vitality in old
age
All three aspects of body functioning work well in young
adults
Senescence gradually increases allostatic load
Appearance
Most emerging adults look vital and attractive
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Vanity about personal appearance not readily admitted,
but observable
• Attraction to fashion and glamorous celebrities
• Money spent on fashion
• Exercise motivated by desire to look fit and
attractive
Appearance concern may be connected to sex drive or
employment-seeking
Staying Healthy
Exercise
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Reduces blood pressure, strengthens the heart and
lungs
Makes depression, osteoporosis, heart disease, arthritis
and some cancers less likely
Those who are not fit during emerging adulthood are 4
times more likely to have diabetes and high blood
pressure 15 years later.
Factors encouraging exercise
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Friendship
Communities
Staying Healthy
Eating well
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At every stage of life, diet affects future development.
Set point
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A certain body weight that a person’s homeostatic
processes strive to maintain
Body mass index (BMI)
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The ratio of a person’s weight in kilograms divided by
their height in meters squared
Staying Healthy
CARDIA study
• Specifics of diet matter
• Fast foods, high-fat diets, and diet soda each had
independent effects
• Overall result affect not only body weight, but also other
health factors indicated by laboratory tests
Sexual Activity
• The sexual-reproductive system is especially
vigorous.
• Sexual-reproductive characteristics are
produced by peaked sex hormones.
• The sex drive is powerful, infertility is rare,
orgasm is frequent, and birth is easy, with fewer
complications in the early 20s than at any other
time.
Sexual Activity
• Average woman in her early 20s becomes
pregnant within three months.
• Globalization, advanced technology, and
modern medicine have combined to produce
effective contraception, available in almost
every nation.
• As fewer infants die, people no longer need to
begin childbearing before age 20 or have four
or more children simply to ensure that some
children will survive.
Sexual Activity
• Advances in contraception have reduced the
birth rate and have also increased the rate of
sexual activity.
• Globally, emerging adults have fewer babies
but engage in more sexual activity.
• Half of all emerging adults in U.S. have had at
least one sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Opinions and Problems
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
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STIs have always been present but the rate has
reached epidemic proportions due to sexual patterns.
Half of all new cases worldwide occur in people younger
than 26.
Best way to prevent STIs is lifelong monogamy
Worldwide, globalization fuels every contagious
disease.
AIDS has become a worldwide epidemic, with more
heterosexual females than gay males testing positive
for HIV.
Emotional Stress
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One consequence of current sexual patterns may
be emotional stress as relationships begin and end.
Attitudes about the purpose of sex
– Reproduction
– Relationship
– Recreation
•
If partners have differing ideas about the purpose of
sex or the nature of gender, emotional pain and
frustration can occur (unanticipated emotional
entanglement).
Psychopathology
Multiple stresses of emerging adults
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Demands of emerging adulthood may cause
psychopathology when added to preexisting
vulnerability.
Incidence of psychopathology increases in emerging
adulthood
Rate of serious mental illness is almost double that for
adults over age 25
Diathesis-stress model
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View that mental disorders are produced by the
interaction of genetics (diathesis) and a stressful
environment and life events.
Mood Disorders
Before they reach age 30, 8% of U.S. residents
suffer from a mood disorder: mania, bipolar
disorder, or severe depression.
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Major depressive disorder
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Most common mood disorder
A loss of interest or pleasure for 2 weeks or more
May be rooted in imbalances in neurotransmitters and
hormones
Anxiety Disorders
• Include panic attacks, posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), and obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD)
• Evident in one-fourth of all U.S.
residents below 25
• More common, worldwide than
depression
Hikikomori
• Common among young adults
in Japan
• Victims isolate themselves for
months or years
JAMES WHITLOW DELANO/REDUX
Symptoms of anxiety
disorders are shaped by
age and genetic
vulnerability.
Recovering from hikikomori
Schizophrenia
Symptoms usually begin in adolescence
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Involves about 1% of adults
Characterized by disorganized and bizarre thoughts,
delusions, hallucinations, and emotions
Risk factors
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Genetic, malnutrition when brain is developing, social
pressure
Taking Risks
Emerging adulthood is marked by a greater
willingness to take risks of all sorts, not just
sexual ones.
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Young adults enjoy danger, drive without seat belts,
carry guns, try addictive drugs.
Reasons for such risk-taking are both social and
biological.
Seven Serious Years
Taking Risks
Edgework
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Occupations, recreational activities, or other ventures
that involve a degree of risk or danger
Prospect of “living on the edge” makes edgework
compelling to some individuals
Extreme sports
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Forms of recreation that include apparent risk of injury
or death and that are attractive and thrilling as a result
Drug Abuse
Drug abuse
•
Ingestion of a drug to the extent that it impairs the
user’s biological or psychological well-being
Drug addiction
• Condition of drug dependence in which the absence of
the given drug from the individual’s system produces a
drive—physiological, biological, or both—to ingest more
of the drug
Too Old for That
Drug Abuse
• Drug abuse is particularly common among
those who die violently.
• In the U.S., between the ages of 15 and 25,
almost 1 male in every 100 dies violently,
through suicide, homicide, or a motor-vehicle
accident.
• About 4 times as many young men as young
women commit suicide or die in motor-vehicle
accidents, and 6 times as many are murdered.
Social Norms
Social norms
• Are customs for usual behavior within a particular society
• Exert strong influence on emerging adults, including
college students
Social norms approach
• A method of reducing risky behavior among emerging
adults that is based on their desire to follow social
norms.
• This approach publicizes survey results to make
emerging adults aware of the actual prevalence of
various behaviors within their peer group.
Social Norms
Base rate neglect
• Involves tendency to overlook or ignore the frequency of
a specific factor when making a judgment or decision,
even in the face of overwhelming odds
Availability error
• Occurs when people remember most easily the events
or people who make a dramatic impact