Lifespan Development: Midlife Vs. Young Adulthood

In my perspective, mid life is a changing phase of life so may be for some people cross without a crisis and some does need to struggle with midlife life. Although I heard about popular topic mid life crisis, but I never saw happing in reality. It may depend on the person who cope with the mid life and some have really hard time to make his or her life in normal due to lot of changes going on such as physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. In addition, changes in health start from as they step in mid life that has negative effects on most of the things. “In general, younger adults and adults of higher SES are more likely to attack problems while older adults and those of lower SES try to accept them. This may indicate that those

Adulthood in the later years of life is different from the previous stages of life. Unlike the stages in later adulthood, the earlier stages emphasize developmental growth and achievements. In the later years in life, a person must deal with deteriorating health and death. The developmental theories in late adulthood involve the methods in which an individual can deal with their relationships with their bodily changes, mental abilities, changes in close relationships, families, overall society, and intended and unintended relocations (Rathus, 2013).

“Though the age boundaries are not set in stone, we will consider middle adulthood as the developmental period that begins at approximately 40 to 45 years of age and extends to about 60 to 65 years of age” (Santrock, 2013, p. 485). I interviewed two individuals for this paper. Each person was asked the same fifteen questions (Appendix). I interviewed a male and a female who fell in the midrange of middle adulthood.

For instance, half of all children can sit unsupported by the age of 6 months, while the majority, (90%) can take up to 7 ½ months. What this means is that for accurate data we would need to observe theses children multiple times to see the growth they are making.

Lifespan development is “the field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and the stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire life span” (Feldman, 2014, pg 5). The biological inheritance from my parents, the environments I have walked through, and my increase awareness of spirituality have molded me into a great person. Thus, “development requires that we look at the joint efforts of the interaction of heredity and environment, and how, in the end underlie human behavior” (Feldman, 2014, pg 5). Throughout this paper important aspects of each developmental stage- prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early and middle adulthood, and spirituality will be discussed and I will include examples of my own development ultimately showing that I have been blessed with a great life.

Elderly people physically slow down and have lower energy levels. There are changes in the body systems and organs that can usually result in all types of

Today people who are age 65 or older make up more than one tenth of the U.S. population and are the quickest growing age group (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman,  2010). As adults reach later adulthood, they begin to undergo mental, physical, and social transformations. All of these changes are experienced and handled differently by each individual. Time and planning help to alleviate stress and can make these changes easier to deal with. Family and friends are an exceptional source of support during these tough times.

Middle childhood is a time that involves many changes for individuals as they are growing and maturing throughout their life span. These differences can be different depending on their sex and the way that they mature. They have significant differences from early childhood in both their cognitive development and their physical development. This also includes the social environment. A significant part of their development can be influenced by the way they are raised in their childhood, and especially in their middle childhood.

The biological changes associated with later adulthood are the taking of responsibilities from personal level to those depending on a person. Apart from responsibility, the brain changes to become independent and care for others becomes a priority. But all of the above can be done effectively by a positive change of mind . The major biological change is the maturity of the mind.

Later adulthood is the time in life when changes in marriage, families, and peer relationships are affected the most by the loss of someone close to that person. “Most people 70 years of age or older are widowed, divorced, or single” (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.619). Losing a spouse or close friend can create a sense of loneliness, which causes depression, anxiety and the emptiness feeling can become overwhelming. Depression also leads to psychological effects that will deteriorate a person’s health causing the chance for a terminal disease to become much higher. The weaker appearance of older adults causes family and remaining peers to step up in the role of making sure the person’s wellbeing is being met. (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Living accommodations and healthcare needs

The information in the article compares fairly well with the text book information on midlife crisis. The first comparison is that the words' midlife crisis doesn’t really add up to effect our lives much as bad a crisis sounds but more than simple thoughtful changes. Day-to-day stress doesn't add up to a midlife crisis, however. In fact, says Almeida, these stressors may even have a positive effect (Clay, 2003, p. 36). Despite the lingering belief that middle adulthood is a time of stagnation, crisis and dissatisfaction, we have seen that people continue to grow and change during this period (Feldman, 2014, pp 533). We also saw that to characterize this as a time of crisis is to overstate the negative and ignore the positive aspects of the

There are three known major areas of study in Lifespan Development which are the Physical, Cognitive, and personal and social development. These groups have to do with age and range of Lifespan Psychology. Lifespan literally connotes from cradle to grave, in other words from conception to death. Lifespan is divided into these following age periods; prenatal, infancy, toddlerhood, middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood and death.

There are numerous ways to define successful aging. The word “aging” usually has a negative connotation. However, when putting the word success behind it introduces positive aspects that can essentially promote a long-term developmental outcome for an individual. Happening around midlife and late adulthood, successful aging is simply when an individual has complete development and maintenance of control throughout life, has achieved in the selection of goals and purposes, as well as maximization of gains and compensations of failure. This is the complete and ultimate goal for those in their late adulthood and is quite fascinating to developmental scientist. Those who engross themselves with attempting to achieve a successful aging will most likely have characteristics which in turn encourage and advocate for things such as health, growth, and vitality, maintaining social encounters and productive activities, and lastly maintaining high physical and cognitive functioning. Two developmental scientist, Vaillant & Mukamal, have discovered the factors that predict satisfaction of life are those an individual is able to control. These factors include are health habits, marital stability, years of education, and coping strategies. On the other hand those factors that are out of an individual 's control can not predict the level of happiness or satisfaction with life. These include the length of life of a family member, early health status, parental SES, and family warmth in

At the age of seven, Al and his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. Al was diagnosed with a developing brain fever and would eventually become deaf. After moving, Al was sent to school in a one-room schoolhouse. He was distracted easily and always asked off-topic questions. Mr. Crawford, Al’s strict teacher, thought Al had to be punished for his disruptiveness; his mother decided to homeschool him. Becoming homeschooled gave Al much more freedom and in his basement, Al put together his first “laboratory”.

Throughout the Human Behavior and the Social Environment course, we have encompassed the many stages of the life cycle process. Now that I am twenty two years old, I found the early adulthood stage to be the most influential, and the most sensible one to relate to given the point that I am at in my life. More importantly, I decided to research and apply this life cycle stage to a variety of milestones, experienced by my interviewee, Chelsie. Living just houses apart, being raised by single fathers, Chelsie and I found that we had many things in common. We have remained friends since we were children, and have only grown to be closer into our early adulthood years.