Transcript Emerging Adulthood - Jen Wright's Website

Late adulthood
Ch 17-19
Developmental Psychology
Jen Wright
the aging process
what ages?
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Physical appearance
Sense organs
Muscles, joints, bones
Sexual reproductive system
All internal systems
– cardiovascular, respiratory,
etc.
• Immune system
• Brain
– Sleep
• Attitudes
• Positives
– Less susceptibility to
colds and allergies
– Frequency of
accidental deaths
drops dramatically
• Aging can be
beautiful!
• Negatives
– Natural aging process
• Increased disability
• Increased vulnerability to major diseases
• Decreased capacity to respond to life stressors
– And, even in the absence of these things, death.
• Why is death the inevitable outcome?
how long is a normal life?
– maximum life span
• the oldest possible age that members of a species
can live
• under ideal circumstances for humans
– approximately 122 years
– average life expectancy
• the number of years the average newborn in a
particular population group is likely to live
• what is the average life expectancy?
different kinds of aging
• Universal aging
– Primary
• Probabilistic aging
– Secondary
• Chronological aging
• Biological aging
• Social aging
– Ageism
• Population aging
universal/biological aging
• Senesence
– The universal biological processes of a living
organism approaching an advanced age.
• Oganismal senescence
• Increased disability
• Increased vulnerability to major diseases
• Decreased capacity to respond to life stressors
– Increasing homeostatic instability
• Cellular senescence
• It was once believed that normal cells were in
principle immortal
– Environmental factors responsible for cell death
• Now we know that most (but not all) cells die
• Hayflick limit
– Number of times a cell will divide before dying
– 52 times in 20% oxygen (normal air)
– 70 times in 3% oxygen (human internal conditions)
what controls cell division?
• Cells possess molecular clocks
– Telomeres
• Non-coding appendix on ends of
DNA
– Shortened by mitosis
– At certain length, cell will no longer
divide
– Protective mechanism against
chromosome destruction, mutation,
and cancer
• Other forms of programmed cell
death
– E.g. apoptosis
– Triggered by mitochondria
biological theories of aging
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Aging clock theory
Wear and tear theory
Accumulated waste theory
Error accumulation theory
Evolutionary explanation
– Late-acting deleterious mutations not selected
against
Earlyacting
disease
Passing
on genes
Middleacting
disease
Lateacting
disease
centenarians
• People living to be 100+ years old
– 55,000 in US in 2005
• 1 in 50 women, 1 in 200 men
– 30,000 in Japan
• Okinawans 5x more likely
– 450,000 world-wide
– Super-centenarians: 110+ years
• Reviewing lives of different centenarians
– Many differences in lifestyles
• Yet, they were similar in four ways…
• diet was moderate
• work continued throughout life
• family, friends, community ties were important
• exercise and relaxation were part of daily routine
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw2lafKIEio
aging prevention
• Artificial extension of telomeres
– Trade-off between aging and cancer
– Vitamin D naturally lengthens
• Increased sirtuins – repairs damage to DNA
• Organ/tissue repair and rejuvenation
– Free-radical therapy
– Stem cells
• Organ/tissue replacement
– Artificial and cloned organs/tissue
• Caloric Restriction
– 45-75% of required
calories
– Extension of life in all
species tested
• in some cases, almost
doubled
– Reduction in Type2
diabetes, cancer, etc.
• Intermittent fasting
Healthy lifestyle
• Drinking!
• In moderation, drinking can increase lifespan
– reduction in coronary heart disease
• alcohol increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the “good” cholesterol
and reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol that
causes clogged arteries and blood clots
• Heavy drinking increases risk of death
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27,000 death from liver disease/year
Increased risk from many other diseases
Brain damage, decreases fertility, osteoperosis
Associated with other bad habits: overeating, smoking
Increased risk of other forms of death: suicide, homocide, accidental
Healthy lifestyle
• Relaxing!
• Leisure time -- vacations
– 12,338 men between 35 – 57 years
• 21% less likely to die over 9 years
• 32% less likely to die of coronary heart disease
• Social involvement
– Engagement
– Activity
– Continuity
Erickson’s stages
developmental stages
• Adolescence: Identity achievement
• Young Adulthood: Developed network
of intimacy
• Mid-life: Generativity vs. Stagnation
– Creating/giving vs. “self-absorption”
• Late-life: Integrity vs. Despair
– Life-review
generativity
• Productivity and effectiveness
– Creative life projects
• Influence in community or area of interest
– Feeling needed by people
– Helping younger generation develop
– Appreciation/awareness of older generation
• Broader, more global perspective
– Interest in things beyond family
integrity
• Life-review: was one’s life meaningful or wasted?
• Wisdom
– Acceptance of life circumstances
– Finding meaning/purpose
• Regrets involve four major themes:
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Mistakes and bad decisions
Hard times
Social relationships
Missed educational opportunities
• Reminiscence therapy: discussing past activities and
experiences with another individual or group.
bucket lists
personality
• Conscientiousness predicts lower mortality risk from
childhood through late adulthood.
• Low conscientiousness and high neuroticism predicts
earlier death.
• Older adults characterized by negative affect do not
live as long as those characterized by more positive
affect.
volunteerism
• Older adults benefit from altruism and engaging in
volunteer activities.
• Helping others may reduce stress hormones, which
improves cardiovascular health and strengthens the
immune system.
• Volunteering is associated with a number of positive
outcomes
– More satisfaction with life
– Less depression and anxiety
– Better physical health
social aging
• Unlike gender/ethnicity
– Doesn’t apply for entire life.
– (potentially) applies to everyone.
• Ageism
– Negative stereotypes associated with age negatively
influence performance, function, and well-being.
• Stereotypes against older adults are often negative
• Most frequent form is disrespect, followed by assumptions about
ailments or frailty caused by age
– Positive stereotypes associated with age positively
influence performance, function, and well-being.
• cognitive decline is rooted not in the older person’s
body and brain but in the surrounding social
context.
– cultural attitudes can lead directly to age differences in
cognition
• does most harm when individuals internalize other
people’s prejudices and react with helplessness.
• if the elderly fear losing their minds because they
have internalized the idea that old age always bring
dementia, that fear may become a stereotype
threat, undermining normal thinking.
• Ageism among scientists
– scientists measure age differences in memory in
the same way they studied memory in general—in
laboratories
– these factors work against older adults, who tend
to perform best in familiar settings
population aging
• Increased age of population
• Two causal factors
– Rising life expectancy
– Declining fertility
• Asia/Europe face severe population aging
– Average age approaching 50
• Economic implications
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More savings/less spending
Increased health care
Less education
Retirement/social security
Population aging