DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
LATE ADULTHOOD
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Longevity Learning
· Life Expectancy and Lifespan
Life span - the maximum number of
years an individual can live, approximately
120 to 125 years.
- In 1900, due
improvements in medicine,
nutrition, exercise, and
lifestyle, life expectancy
increased by an average of
30 years.
Life Expectancy - the number of years
the average person will probably live.
- The overall life expectancy for
women was 81.4 years of age, and
for men, it was 76.7 years of age
- Men are more likely than women to
die due to health attitudes, habits,
lifestyles, and occupations.
- Women have more resistance to
infectious and degenerative disease
because of the additional X
chromosome, which may be
associated with producing more
antibodies to fight off the disease.
Centenarians - age ranges from 100
years or older
- Health resources (better cognitive
function, fewer hearing problems,
and positive activities in daily
living) were linked to a higher level
of well-being
- The associated factors with living
to be 100 are longevity genes and
coping effectively with stress.
- Chronic high-mortality diseases are
markedly delayed for many years in
centenarians.
Supercentenarians - 110 years or
older
Compression of Morbidity - the
process of staving off high-mortality
chronic diseases until much later ages than
usual
Why do people live longer in
Okinawa?
to
- Diet. Eat healthy foods (e.g., grains,
fish, vegetables)
- Low-stress lifestyle. Easy-going
lifestyle
- Caring community. They look out
for each other and do not isolate or
ignore their older adults.
- Activity. They are physically
vigorous, engaging in activities
(e.g., walks, working in a garden)
- Spirituality. Prayer helps ease the
mind of stress and problems.
· The Young-Old and the Oldest-
Old
Young-old - age ranges from 65 to 85
years
- With the substantial potential
for physical and cognitive
fitness, higher levels of
emotional well-being, and
more effective strategies for
mastering the gains and
losses of old age.
Oldest-old - age ranges from 85 years
or older.
- Faces problems such as
sizable losses in cognitive
potential and ability to learn;
an increase in chronic stress;
a substantial prevalence of
physical and mental
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
disabilities; high levels of
frailty; increased loneliness;
and the difficulty of dying
with dignity at older ages.
Functional age - an individual’s actual
ability to function
· Biological Theories of Aging
Evolutionary Theory of Aging
- Natural selection has not eliminated
many harmful conditions and
nonadaptive characteristics in older
adults
Criticisms of ETA
- The “big picture” idea of natural
selection leading to the development
of human traits and behaviors is
difficult to refute or test because
evolution occurs on a time scale that
does not lend itself to empirical
study
- Failure of evolutionary theory to
account for cultural influences
Genetic/Cellular Process Theories
- Aging is best explained by cellular
maintenance requirements and
evolutionary constraints
- Five such advances involve
telomeres, free radicals,
mitochondria, sirtuins, and the
mTOR pathway.
Cellular Clock/Telomere Theory
(Leonard Hayflick)
- Cells can divide a maximum of
about 75 to 80 times, and as we age,
our cells become less capable of
dividing
- The upper limit of the human
lifespan potential at about 120 to
125 years of age.
- Each time a cell divides, the
telomeres become shorter and
shorter. Telomere shortening does
play a role in aging.
Free-Radical Theory
- People age because when cells
metabolize energy, the by-products
include unstable oxygen molecules
known as free radicals
- Free radicals damage DNA and
other cellular structures, leading to
various disorders, including cancer
and arthritis.
Mitochondrial Theory
- Aging is due to the decay of
mitochondria
- Emphasizes that this decay is
primarily caused by oxidative
damage and loss of critical
micronutrients supplied by the cell.
Sirtuin Theory
- Sirtuins proteins have been linked to
longevity, regulation of
mitochondria functioning in energy,
possible benefits of calorie
restriction, stress resistance, and
lower cardiovascular disease and
cancer rates.
mTOR Pathway Theory
- mTOR pathway has a central role
in the life of cells, acting as a
cellular router for growth, protein
production/metabolism, and stem
cell functioning
- Some scientists argue that the
pathway is linked to longevity, the
successful outcomes of calorie
restriction, and reducing cognitive
decline. It plays a role in several
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
diseases, including cancer,
cardiovascular disease, and
Alzheimer’s disease.
Hormonal Stress Theory
- Aging in the body’s hormonal
system can lower resistance to stress
and increase the likelihood of
disease.
- The extended duration of stress and
diminished restorative processes in
older adults may accelerate the
effects of aging on immunity
- Allostasis – the process of
adaptation and adjustment is
referred to as allostasis. However,
continuous accommodation of
physiological systems in response to
stressors may result in allostatic
load, a wearing down of body
systems due to constant activity.
The Course of Physical
Development in Late Adulthood
Learning
· The Aging Brain
- On average, the brain loses 5 to 10
in older adults:
percent of its weight between 20
and 90 years old. Brain volume
also decreases
- One study found a decrease in total
brain volume and volume in key
brain structures such as the frontal
delateralization.
lobes and hippocampus from 22 to
88 years of age
- In healthy aging, the decrease in
brain volume is due mainly to
shrinkage of neurons, lower
numbers of synapses, reduced length
and complexity of axons, and
reduced tree-like branching in
dendrites, but only to a minor extent
attributable to neuron loss
- Aging has been linked to changes in
myelination and neural networks,
reduced synaptic functioning, and
decreased production of some
neurotransmitters, including
acetylcholine, dopamine, and
gamma-aminobutyric acid
- General slowing of function in the
brain and spinal cord begins in
middle adulthood and accelerates in
late adulthood, and it affects both
physical and intellectual
performance
The Adapting Brain
- The aging brain also has
remarkable adaptive capabilities;
the brain loses only a portion of its
ability to function, and the activities
older adults engage in can influence
the brain’s development
- In one fMRI study, higher levels of
aerobic fitness were linked with
greater volume in the hippocampus,
which translates into better memory
The adaptiveness of the human brain
(1) the possibility that the brain
might be able to generate new
neurons,
(2) the role of dendritic growth, and
(3) the adaptive potential of
Can the brains of adults, even aging
adults, generate new neurons?
A. Neurogenesis can occur in human
adults. However, researchers have
documented neurogenesis in only
two brain regions: the
hippocampus, which is involved in
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
memory, and the olfactory bulb,
which is involved in smell.
B. Dendritic growth can occur in
human adults, possibly even in older
adults
C. From the forties through the
seventies, the growth of dendrites
increased. However, among people
in their nineties, dendritic growth
no longer occurred.
D. Dendritic growth might compensate
for the possible loss of neurons
through the seventies but not during
the nineties.
Adaptive Potential of Delateralization
- Changes in lateralization may
provide one type of adaptation in
aging adults. Lateralization is the
specialization of function in one
hemisphere of the brain or the
other.
- Researchers found that brain
activity in the prefrontal cortex
is lateralized less in older adults
than in younger adults when they
are engaging in cognitive tasks
1. Sleep
- Fifty percent or more of older
adults complain of having
difficulty sleeping, which can
have detrimental effects on their
lives
- significant reduction in deep
sleep in older adults is more
likely to occur in men than
women
- when older adults slept 6 hours
per day or less, they were more
likely to have fair or poor
health
- Poor sleep is a risk factor for
falls, obesity, a lower level of
cognitive functioning, and
earlier death
- Research reviews indicate that
improving older adults’ sleep
through behavioral and
pharmaceutical treatments may
enhance their cognitive skills
- Sleep duration of more than
seven hours per night in older
adults was linked to longer
telomere length. In one recent
study, insomnia was associated
with shorter telomere length in
70 to 88-year-olds but not in
adults younger than 70 years old
- Long sleep duration predicted
an increase in all-cause mortality
in individuals 65 years and
older. Older adults who slept 10
hours a day or more were more
likely to have cardiovascular
disease and diabetes.
- Older adults who slept 9 hours
or more a day had lower
cognitive functioning and a
higher incidence of sarcopenia-
an involuntary loss of skeletal
muscle mass and strength.
- Strategies for better night
sleep: Avoiding caffeine,
avoiding over-the-counter sleep
remedies, staying physically
active during the day, staying
mentally active, and limiting
naps
2. Physical Appearance and
Movement
- Both men and women become
shorter in late adulthood because
of bone loss in their vertebrae.
- Weight usually drops after we
reach 60 years of age. This likely
occurs because of muscle loss,
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD

which also gives our bodies a - It is most likely to occur in the

“sagging” look
- One study found that long-term
aerobic exercise was linked with
greater muscle strength in 65-
to 86-year-olds
- NOTE: Falls are the leading
cause of injury deaths among
adults 65 years and older.
Each year, approximately
200,000 adults over the age of
65 (many of them women)
fracture a hip in a fall. Half of
these older adults die within 12
months, frequently from
pneumonia.
3. Sensory Development
Vision
- Visual decline in late adulthood is
linked to cognitive decline, having
fewer social contacts, and engaging
in less challenging social/leisure
activities.
green-blue-violet part of the color
spectrum.
- As a result, older adults may have
trouble accurately distinguishing
between objects of closely related
colors, such as navy-blue socks and
black socks.
Depth Perception
- Typically declines in late adulthood,
making it difficult for the older adult
to determine how close or far away
or how high or low something is.
- A decline in depth perception can
make steps or street curbs difficult
to manage.

Visual Acuity
- Visual processing speed declines in
older adults.
- Night driving is especially difficult,
to some extent, because of
diminishing sensitivity to contrasts
and reduced tolerance for glare.
- Dark adaptation is slower in older
individuals because it takes longer to
recover their vision when going
from a well-lighted room to Hearing
semidarkness.  The decline in hearing is much greater
- Visual decline can be traced to a in individuals 75 years and older than
reduction in the quality or intensity in individuals aged 65 to 74.
of light reaching the retina.  Hearing impairment usually does not
become much of an impediment until
Color Vision late adulthood.
- It is a result of the yellowing of the
eye’s lens.
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 63% of adults aged 70 years and
older had a hearing loss defined as an
inability to hear sounds at frequencies
higher than 25 dB with their better ear.
 Hearing problems are linked to
impaired activities of daily living, less
time spent out of home and in leisure
activities, increased falls, reduced
cognitive functioning, and loneliness.
 Dual sensory loss in vision and hearing
was linked to reduced social
participation, less social support, and
increased loneliness. It also involved
greater functional limitations,
increased loneliness, cognitive decline,
and communication problems.
 NOTE: Older adults with a dual
sensory impairment involving vision
and hearing had more depressive
symptoms.
Smell and Taste
o Most older adults lose some
sense of taste, smell, or both.
o 74% had impaired taste, and
22% had impaired smell.
These losses often begin around
60 years of age.
o A majority of individuals aged
80 and older experience a
significant reduction in smell.
 Older adults show a greater decline in
their sense of smell than in their sense
of taste.
 Note: A poorer sense of smell in older
adults was associated with increased
feelings of depression and loneliness.
Touch and Pain
o 70% of older adults have
impaired touch.
o For most older adults, a decline
in touch sensitivity is not
problematic.
o Older adults who are blind retain
a high level of touch sensitivity,
likely linked to their use of
active touch in their daily lives.
o The most frequent pain
complaints of older adults are
back pain, peripheral
neuropathic pain, and chronic
joint pain.
o The presence of pain increases
with age in older adults, and
women are more likely to report
having pain than men.
o Older adults have lower pain
sensitivity but only for lower
pain intensities.
o NOTE: Although decreased
sensitivity to pain can help
older adults cope with disease
and injury, it can also mask
injuries and illnesses that need
to be treated.
Perceptual Motor Coupling
- The decline in perceptual-
motor skills in late adulthood
makes driving a car
difficult for many older
adults.
- Older adults can compensate
for declines in perceptual-
motor skills by driving
shorter distances, choosing
less congested routes, and
driving only in daylight.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
- NOTE: Drivers over 65 are
involved in more traffic
accidents than middle-aged
adults because of mistakes
such as improper turns,
not yielding the right of
way, and not obeying
traffic signs.
4. The Circulatory and Respiratory
Systems
- Cardiovascular disorders
increase in late adulthood.
- In older adults, 64% of men
and 69% of women aged 65
to 74 have hypertension.
- More than 70% of older
adults with a heart attack
or stroke have pre-existing
hypertension.
- Consistent blood pressures
above 120/80 should be
treated to reduce the risk of
heart attack, stroke, or
kidney disease.
- Diminished exercise
capacity and lack of
walking were the best
predictors of earlier death in
older adults with heart
problems.
- In the respiratory system,
lung capacity drops 40%
between 20 and 80, even
when the disease is not
present.
- NOTE: Older adults can
improve lung functioning
with diaphragm-
strengthening exercises.
However, severe
impairments in lung
functioning and death can
result from smoking.
● Sexuality
- Aging, however, induces
changes in human sexual
performance, more so in
males than females.
- Orgasm becomes less
frequent in males with age,
occurring in every second to
third attempt rather than
every time. More direct
stimulation usually is
needed to produce an
erection.
- From 65 to 80 years of age,
approximately 1 out of 4
men have serious problems
getting and/or keeping
erections, and after 80 years
of age, the percentage rises
to 1 out of 2 men.
- Declining serum
testosterone levels, linked to
erectile dysfunction, can be
treated with testosterone
replacement therapy to
improve sexual functioning
in males. However, the
benefit-risk ratio of
testosterone replacement
therapy is uncertain for
older males.
- Sexual activity with a partner
declined from the last part
of middle adulthood
through late adulthood,
with a lower rate of sexual
activity with a partner for
women than men.
- Older adults who did not
have a partner were far less
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
likely to be sexually active
than those with a partner.
- For older adults with a
partner who reported not
having sex, the main reason
especially the male
partner’s physical health.
- At 70 years of age,
approximately 70% of
women don’t have a partner
compared with only about
35% of men.
- NOTE: Many older
women’s husbands have
died, and many older men
are in relationships with
younger women.
Health
Health Problems
- Substance Use and Abuse
- Older adults are taking multiple
medications, which can increase
the risks associated with
consuming alcohol or other
drugs.
- When combined with
tranquilizers or sedatives,
alcohol use can impair breathing,
produce excessive sedation, and
be fatal.
- Moderate drinking red wine is
linked to better health and
increased longevity.
Late-onset Alcoholism
● It is the label used to describe the
onset of alcoholism after the age of
65.
● It is often related to loneliness, the
loss of a spouse, or a disabling
condition.
- Exercise, Nutrition, and
Weight
- The physical benefits of exercise
have been demonstrated in older
adults.
- Aerobic exercise and
weightlifting are both
recommended for people who
are physically capable of them.
- Most nutritional experts
recommend a well-balanced,
low-fat diet for older adults but
do not recommend an extremely
low-calorie diet. Moreover, it is
important for older adults to eat
healthy foods and take
appropriate vitamins.
- The antioxidants vitamin C,
vitamin E, and beta-carotene—
can slow the aging process and
improve older adults’ health.
cardiovascular disease
- Health Treatment
- As older adults live longer, disease
management programs will need to
be expanded to handle the chronic
disorders of older adults.
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- The increasing demand for health

services among the expanding
population of older adults is likely to
bring shortages of many types of
healthcare professionals, including
geriatric nurses, doctors, and
healthcare aides.
- The development of alternative
home and community-based care
has decreased the percentage of
older adults who live in nursing
homes.
- The quality of nursing homes and
other extended-care facilities for
older adults varies enormously and
is a source of ongoing concern.
- The attitudes of both the healthcare
provider and the older adult patient
are important aspects of the older
adult’s health care.
- Too often, healthcare personnel
share society’s negative view of
older adults.
- Home health care, elder-care
centers, and preventive medicine
clinics are potentially less expensive
than hospitals and nursing homes.
- An important factor related to
health, and even survival, in a
nursing home is the patient’s
feelings of control and self-
determination.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT · The decline in processing speed in

older adults is likely due to a decline
Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults in the central nervous system and in
the brain.
Multidimensionality Education, Use It or
and Multidirectionaity Work, and Lose ItATTENTION
Health · Older adults may not be able to
focus on relevant information as
effectively as younger adults.
1. Multidimensionality and · Researchers have found that older
Multidirectionality adults are less able to ignore
Cognitive Mechanics – “hardware” of the distracting information than younger
mind, reflects neurophysiological adults.
architecture of the brain developed through 1. Selective Attention – involves on
evolution. It involves the speed and focusing on a specific aspect of
accuracy of the processes involving visual experience that is relevant while
and motor memory, sensory input, ignoring other information that are
comparison, discrimination, and irrelevant.
categorization. 2. Divided Attention – involves
Cognitive Pragmatics – culture-based concentrating on more than one
“software programs” of the mind. It activity at the same time.
includes writing and reading skills, 3. Sustained Attention – is focused
educational qualifications, language and extended engagement with a
comprehension, self-understanding, and the task or an object.
life skills that helps us to cope with 4. Executive Attention – involves
challenges. planning actions, finding attention to
goals, detection and compensations
The distinction between cognitive for errors, dealing with difficult
mechanics and cognitive pragmatics is like circumstances and monitoring
one between fluid and crystallized progress on tasks.
intelligence. Experts now describe cognitive
aging patterns in terms of fluid mechanics
and crystallized pragmatic due to their MEMORY
strong similarity. · Includes explicit and implicit
memory, episodic memory, semantic
SPEED OF PROCESSING memory, cognitive resources, source
· It is well accepted that the speed of memory, prospective memory, and
processing information declines in non-cognitive influences.
late adulthood, whereas cognitive Explicit Memory – memory of facts and
pragmatics do not decline until they experiences that individuals consciously
become very old. know and can state.
Episodic Memory – retention of
· Cognitive mechanics have a
information about the details of life’s
biological/genetic foundation, while
happening.
cognitive pragmatics have an
Semantic Memory – a person’s knowledge
experiential/cultural foundation.
about the world.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
Implicit Memory – memory without
conscious recollection.
Working Memory – a mental “workbench”
that allows individuals to manipulate and
assemble information when making
decisions, solving problems, and
comprehending written and spoken
language.
Perceptual Speed – a cognitive source that
involves ability to perform simple
perceptual-motor tasks.
Source Memory – ability to remember
where one learned something.
Prospective Memory – involves
remembering to do something in the future.
Executive Function – an umbrella-like
concept that consists of a number of higher-
level cognitive processes linked to the
development of the brain’s prefrontal
cortex, involves managing one’s thoughts to
engage in goal-directed behavior and
exercise self-control.
Decision Making – many older adults
perceive decision making skills reasonably
well.
Metacognition – by middle age, adults
have accumulated a great deal of
metacognitive knowledge. This helps them
combat a decline in memory skills.
Mindfulness – involves being alert,
mentally present and cognitively flexible
while going through life’s everyday
activities and tasks.
Wisdom – knowledge of life, prosocial
values, self-understanding,
acknowledgement of uncertainty, emotional
balance, tolerance, openness, spirituality,
and sense of humor. It is the expert
knowledge about the practical aspects of
life that permits excellent judgement about
important matters.
2. Education, Work, and Health
Education – educational
experiences are positively correlated
with scores on intelligence tests and
information-processing tasks, such
as memory exercises.
Work – research found out that
when older adults engage in
complex working tasks and
challenging activities, their
cognitive functioning shows less
age-related decrease.
Health – terminal decline, where it
emphasizes that changes in
cognitive functioning may be linked
more to distance from death or
cognition-related pathology than to
distance from birth.
3. Use it or Lose It – a significant
component of the engagement
model of cognitive optimization that
emphasizes how intellectual and
social engagement can buffer age-
related declines in intellectual
development.
4. Training Cognitive Skills – some
improvements in the cognitive
vitality of older adults can be
accomplished through cognitive,
physical activity, and nutritional
interventions.
5. Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging
– the field of neuroscience has
emerged as the major discipline that
explores the links between brain
activity and cognitive functioning.
Language Development
Most research on language development has
focused on infancy and childhood. Older
adult’s speech is typically lower in volume,
slower, less precisely articulated, and less
fluent. Despite this, most older adults’
speech skills are adequate for everyday
communication.
Tip of the tongue – a phenomenon where
the individual is confident that they know
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something but can’t quiet seem to retrieve it Alzheimer disease – a progressive,

from memory.
Work and Retirement
Cognitive ability is one of the best
predictors of job performance in older
adults, while older workers have low rates
of absenteeism, fewer accidents, and higher
job satisfaction that younger workers.
Adjustment to Retirement
Retirement – most study on retirement has
been cross-sectional rather than longitudinal
and has focused on men rather than women.
· A study revealed that higher levels
of financial assets and job
satisfaction were more strongly
linked to men’s higher
psychological well-being in
retirement, while pre-retirement
social contacts were more strongly
related to women’s psychological
well-being in retirement.
irreversible brain disorder characterized by
a gradual deterioration of memory,
reasoning, language, and physical function.
It involves a deficiency in the brain
messenger called acetylcholine, which plays
an important role in memory.
Parkinson disease – a chronic, progressive
disease characterized by muscle tremors,
slowing of movement, and partial facial
analysis.
1. Religion and Spirituality – coping
involves drawing on beliefs, values,
and goals to change the meaning of
a stressful situation, especially in
times of chronic stress.
A longitudinal study found that religious
service attendance was stable in middle
adulthood, increased in late adulthood, then
decline in the older adult years. Religious
interest increases in old age and is related to
a sense of well-being in the elderly.

Mental Health
DEPRESSION SOCIOEMOTIONAL
Major depression – a mood disorder in DEVELOPMENT
which the individual is unhappy, self-
derogatory, demoralized, and bored. The
individual may not feel well, loses stamina Theories of Socioemotional
easily, has a poor appetite, and is Development
unmotivated.
The most common predictors of depression
 Erikson’s Theory (Erik Erikson,
in older adults are early depressive
symptoms, disability, losses, poor health, 1968)
low social support, and social isolation. - Integrity vs. Despair
Suicidal ideation – strongly associated - 8th and final
with depression severity in older adults. stage of
development
DEMENTIA, ALZHEIMER DISEASES, - Reflecting on
AND OTHER AFFLICTIONS the past either
Dementia – involves a deterioration of with a
mental functioning. A person with dementia positive view
loses the ability to take care of themselves, of life that is
and is unable to recognize familiar
satisfactory or
surroundings and people – including family
well spent
members.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD

(integrity) or Reminiscenc
concluding e Therapy-
that one’s life reduced
has not been depressive
well spent symptoms,
(despair). perceived
- Life Review stress, and
■ Looking back at emergency
one’s life room visits.
experiences,
evaluating,  Activity Theory
interpreting, and  NOTE: The more active older
often reinterpreting. adults are, the more satisfied they
■ Set in motion by are with their lives.
looking forward to  Active, energetic, productive,
death. increased leisure time and great
■ Related therapies: social interaction will lead to greater
 Reminiscenc life satisfaction.
e Therapy-
discusses past  Socioemotional Selectivity Theory
activities and  NOTE: Adults are more selective
experiences about their social networks as
with another they grow older.
individual or  Withdraw from social contact with
group using others while they maintain and
photographs, increase contact with close friends
familiar and family with whom they have a
items, and rewarding relationship (meaningful
video/audio relationships)
recordings.  2 types of goals of individuals:
 Instrumental a. Pursuit of knowledge- goals
Reminiscenc for adolescence and early
e Therapy- adulthood
recalling the b. Pursuit of emotional
times one satisfaction- goals for
coped with infancy, early childhood,
stressful middle adulthood, and late
circumstances adulthood.
and analyzing
what it took  Selective Optimization with
to adapt. Compensation Theory (Paul
 Attachment- Baltes)
Focused
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD

 NOTE: Successful aging to conservative attitudes

depends on selection, toward sex and lower levels
optimization, and of sexual dysfunction.
compensation (SOC). o High neuroticism and low
 Selection- reduction in extraversion and
conscientiousness are
performance
associated with severe
 Optimization- maintain
depression.
performance o High levels of
 Compensation- relevant conscientiousness, openness,
when life tasks require a agreeableness, and
level of capacity beyond the extraversion are linked to
current level positive emotion, while
neuroticism is associated
Personality, the Self, and Society with negative emotion.
o High neuroticism, low
 Personality conscientiousness, and low
openness were related to an
 NOTE: Changes in the Big Five
increased risk of Alzheimer’s
factors of personality in older
disease over six years.
adults.
o Higher levels of
 The Self and Society
conscientiousness lead to
 Self-esteem declines in older
cognitive decline.
adults due to deteriorating
o Higher levels of
physical health, unstable
conscientiousness reduced
emotional health, and
the risk of developing
negative social attitudes.
Alzheimer’s disease.
 Self-esteem increases when
o Transition into late
they have a youthful identity
adulthood was characterized
and positive experiences
by an increase in
(ex., being told they are nice
conscientiousness.
and feel accepted by others).
o High levels of neuroticism or
 Self-Control:
even low levels of openness
a.high levels of self-
and agreeableness predicted
control, lower levels
high frailty.
of depression and
o High levels of agreeableness
obesity, and better
and a lower level of
cognitive
neuroticism lessen the risk of
performance.
dementia.
b. In adults,
o High levels of openness and
control in the
lower levels of agreeableness physical domain was
engaged in more frequent the lowest
sexual activity and had lower
levels of sexual dysfunction.
 Older Adults in Society
o High levels of
1. Stereotyping:
conscientiousness are related
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
 Ageism- prejudice against
others because of their age.
o Incapable of thinking early
o Incapable of learning new
things
o Incapable of enjoying sex
o Incapable of contributing to
the society
o Incapable of holding
responsible jobs
2. Policy Issues:
o Status of the economy- an
economy that cannot bear the
burden of so many older
adults; drop in
nongovernment retirement
funds
o Provision of health care-
escalating health care cost,
the medical system is based
on “cure” rather than “care.”
o Eldercare/Support for
families- stressful to be
responsible for the care at an
older age
o Generational inequity-
intergenerational conflict and
divisiveness.
o Income- a challenge in
economic security
o Living arrangements-
residents in
institutions/hospitals, nursing
homes, or living alone,
which may be lonesome.
o Technology- unable to keep
up with changes in
technology, given that it
takes an important role in
accessing information and
communication
Families and Social Relationships
1. Lifestyle Diversity
· Married Older Adults
- Older men are most likely to be
married than older women.
- Widows were four times as
many as widowers.
- Retirement from death is
sometimes referred to as the
“final stage of marriage
process”
- Individuals in late adulthood
who are in marriage or with a
partner are usually happier, less
distressed and live longer than
single individuals.
- Marital happiness of older
adults is affected by each
partner’s ability to deal with
personal challenges such as
aging, illness, and prospect of
widowhood.
- Old married individuals are
more likely to find themselves
having to care for a sick partner
that has a limiting health
condition.
NOTE: The benefits of happy marriage
includes less physical and emotional stress,
which put less wear and tear to the body.
· Divorced and Remarried Older
Adults
Note: Women 65 years and older are far
more likely to be widowed than to be
divorced.
- An increasing number of older
adults are divorced through the
years;
1980: 3% of women and 4% for men 65
years and older were divorced,
2015: rate has increased to 13%, for women
and for men, it has decreased to 11%.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
- Many of these individuals were
divorced or separated before
entering late adulthood.
- Majority ofdivorced older adults
are women, due to their
longevity. While, men are more
likely to remarry, thus removing
themselves from the pool of
divorced older adults.
- Divorce is far less common
among older adults than younger
adults, likely reflecting cohort
effects rather than age effects
since divorce was somewhat rare
when current cohorts of older
adults were young.
- Older adults who had been
married for many years, who had
better marital quality, who
owned a home, and who were
wealthy were less likely than
other older couples to get
divorced.
- Partnered older adults were more
likely to receive Social Security
and enjoy relatively high Social
Security benefits, and less likely
to live in poverty
- There are social, financial, and
physical consequences of
divorce for older adults;
It can weaken kinship ties
when it occurs in later life,
especially in the case of older men.
Divorced older women are
less likely to have adequate financial
resources than married older
women, and older adults who are
divorced have more health problems
than those who are not.
Note: Rising divorce rates, increased
longevity, and better health have led to an
increase in remarriage among older adults
- Some older adults perceive
negative social pressure about
their decision to remarry. These
negative sanctions range from
raised eyebrows to rejection by
adult children
- However, the majority of adult
children support the decision of
their older adult parents to
remarry.
- Researchers have found that
remarried parents and
stepparents provide less support
to adult stepchildren than parents
in first marriages provide to their
adult children.
· Cohabiting Older Adults
- An increasing number of adults
cohabit;
In 1960, hardly any older adults cohabited.
2007: the number of cohabiting adults 50
years and older has risen 75%,
2016: 4 million adults 50 years and older
were cohabiting, up from 2.3 million in
2007
- The number of cohabiting older
adults will increase further as the
large cohort of baby boomers
continues to move through late
adulthood, bringing their
historically more non-traditional
attitudes regarding love, sex, and
relationships with them. In many
cases, cohabiting is more for
companionship than for love.
- In other cases, such as when one
partner faces the potential for
expensive care, a couple may
decide to maintain their assets
separately and thus not marry.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
- older adults who cohabited had a
more positive, stable relationship
than younger adults who
cohabited, although older adults
were less likely to have plans to
marry their partner.
- Does cohabiting affect an
individual’s health and
psychological well-being? A
study of more than 8,000 51- to
61-year-old adults revealed that
the health of couples who
cohabited did not differ from the
health of married couples.
- However, another study of
individuals 50 years of age and
older found that those who
cohabited were more depressed
than their married counterparts.
- And in a recent national study of
older adults, among men,
cohabitors’ psychological well-
being (lower levels of
depression, stress, and
loneliness) fared similarly to
married men, better than daters
and the unpartnered.
- In contrast, there were few
differences in the psychological
well-being of women who were
married, cohabiting, or single.
2. Attachment
A research review on attachment in older
adults reached the following conclusions:
- Older adults have fewer attachment
relationships than younger adults do
- In late adulthood, attachment
security is associated with greater
psychological and physical well-
being than attachment anxiety.
- Insecure attachment is linked to a
more perceived negative caregiver
burden in caring for patients with
Alzheimer disease.
- Also, in a longitudinal study of
individuals from 13 to 72 years of
age, attachment anxiety declined in
middle-aged and older adults.
- Attachment avoidance decreased in
a linear fashion across the life span.
Being in a relationship was linked to
lower rates of attachment anxiety
and attachment avoidance across
adulthood. And men were higher
than women in attachment
avoidance throughout the lifespan.
3. Older adult parents and their adult
children
- Parent-child relationships in later
life differ from those earlier in the
life span.
- They are influenced by a lengthy
joint history and extensive shared
experiences and memories.
- Approximately 80% of older adults
have living children, many of whom
are middle-aged. About 10% of older
adults have children who are 65 or
older.
- Adult children are an important part
of the aging parent’s social network.
Gender plays an important role in
relationships involving older adult
parents and their children.
- Adult daughters are more likely than
adult sons to be involved in the lives
of their aging parents.
- Middle-aged adults are more likely
to provide support if their parents
have a disability. A valuable service
that adult children can perform is to
coordinate and monitor services for
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
an aging parent who becomes
disabled.
3. Great – Grandparenting
Note: At the beginning of the twentieth
century, the three-generation family was
common, but now the four-generation
family is common as
well. Thus, an increasing number of
grandparents are also great-grandparents.
- One contribution of great-
grandparents is to transmit family
history by telling their children,
grandchildren, and great-
grandchildren where the family
came from, what their members
achieved, what they endured, and
how their lives changed over the
years.
- Young adults interacted with, and
participated in more activities with,
their grandparents than with their
great-grandparents. They also
perceived their grandparents as
having a more defined role and
being more influential in their lives
than their great-grandparents were.
4. Friendship
- In late adulthood, new friendships
are less likely to be forged, although
some older adults do seek out new
friendships, especially following the
death of a spouse.
- A recent study found that compared
with younger adults, older adults
reported fewer problems with
friends, fewer negative friendship
qualities, less frequent contact with
friends, and more positive friendship
qualities with a specific friend.
- In another study, adults who had
close ties with friends were less
likely to die across a seven-year age
span.
5. Social Support and Social Integration
- Social support and social
integration play important roles
in the physical and mental health
of older adults.
 Social Support
- In the convoy model of social
relations, individuals go through
life embedded in a personal
network of individuals to whom
they give and from whom they
receive social support.
- For older adults, social support
is related to their physical health,
mental health, and life
satisfaction
- A higher level of social support
was associated with older adults’
increased life satisfaction. It also
is linked with a reduction in
symptoms of disease, with the
ability to meet one’s own health-
care needs, and reduced
mortality.
- A higher level of social support
also is related to a lower
probability of an older adult
being institutionalized and
depressed.
- Social support for older adults
can be provided by different
adults.
(1) Older adults who are married are
less likely to need formal social
supports, such as home nursing care,
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD
adult day care, and home-delivered
meals, than are nonmarried older adults.
(2) Families play important roles in
social support for older adults, but
friends also can provide invaluable
resources for social support.
 Social Integration
- older adults with higher levels of
social integration were less
depressed.
- Socioemotional selectivity
theory that many older adults
choose to have fewer peripheral
social contacts and more
emotionally positive contacts
with friends and family
therefore, a decrease in the
overall social activity of many
older adults may reflect their
greater interest in spending more
time in the small circle of friends
and family members where they
are less likely to have negative
emotional experiences.
6. Altruism and Volunteering
- Older adults were more likely to
behave in altruistic ways and to
value contributions to the public
good than younger adults were.
- A common perception is that older
adults need to be given help rather
than give help themselves.
- A national survey found that 24.1%
of U.S. adults 65 years and older
engaged in volunteering in 2013.
The highest percentage of
volunteering occurred between 35
and 44 years of age.
- Older adults are more likely than
any other age group to volunteer
more than 100 hours annually.
- Might volunteering improve the
well-being and life-satisfaction of
older adults? Volunteering is
associated with a number of
positive outcomes for aging adults.
Ethnicity, Gender, and Culture
1. Ethnicity
- Older ethnic minority
individuals are more likely to
become ill but less likely to
receive treatment.
- They also are more likely to
have a history of less education,
higher levels of unemployment,
worse housing conditions, and
shorter life expectancies than
their non-Latino White
counterparts.
- Also, too many ethnic minority
workers never enjoy the Social
Security and Medicare benefits
to which their earnings
contribute, because they die
before reaching the age of
eligibility for benefits.
- Despite the stress and
discrimination older ethnic
minority individuals face, many
of these older adults have
developed coping mechanisms
that allow them to survive in the
dominant non-Latino White
world.
- Extension of family networks
helps older minority-group
individuals cope with the bare
essentials of living and gives
them a sense of being loved.
2. Gender
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD

o Older persons control

- Do our gender roles change key family/community
when we become older adults? resources.
Some developmentalists o Older persons are
conclude that femininity permitted to engage in
decreases in women and that useful and valued
masculinity decreases in men functions as long as
when they reach late adulthood. possible.
- Women in their eighties and o There is role continuity
older were less likely than throughout the life span.
younger and middle-aged o Age-related role changes
women to endorse masculine involve greater
and androgynous traits. responsibility, authority,
- Those who were married were
and advisory capacity.
more likely to endorse
o The extended family is a
stereotypically masculine traits
but also to have higher common family
androgyny scores than arrangement in the
unmarried older men. culture, and the older
o person is integrated into
Note: Keep in mind that cohort effects are the extended family.
especially important to consider in areas o In general, respect for
such as gender roles. As sociohistorical older adults is greater in
changes
collectivistic cultures.
take place and are assessed more
However, some
frequently in life-span investigations, what
were once perceived to be age effects may researchers are finding
turn out to be cohort effects. that this
collectivistic/individualis
3. Culture tic difference in respect
for older adults is not as
- What promotes a good old age in strong as it used to be,
most cultures? One analysis and that in some cases
indicated that three factors are older adults in
important in living the “good individualistic cultures
life” as an older adult: health, receive considerable
security, and kinship/support. respect.
- What factors are associated with
whether older adults are accorded
a position of high status in a Successful Ageing
culture? In one view, seven factors
are most likely to predict high · Normal Ageing- psychological
status for older adults in a culture: functioning peaks at early midlife to
o Older persons have early sixties, then declines through
valuable knowledge. early eighties or death.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY | LATE ADULTHOOD

· Pathological Ageing- shows greater - Self-efficacy has often been used to

than average decline (ex. may describe perceived control over the
experience cognitive impairment in environment and confidence in
early old age or may develop one’s ability to produce positive
Alzheimer’s disease later) outcomes.
· Factors linked with successful - Perceived control over the
aging: environment had a positive effect on
a. Active lifestyle nursing home residents’ health and
 Older adults who longevity.
exercise regularly, -
attend meetings,
participate in church
activities, and go on
trips are more
satisfied with their
lives than their
counterparts who
disengage from
society.
 Older adults who
engage in challenging
cognitive activities
are more likely to
retain their cognitive
skills for a longer
period of time
b. Positive coping skills
 Older adults who are
emotionally selective,
optimize their
choices, and
compensate
effectively for losses
increase their chances
of aging successfully
c. Good social relationships
and support
d. Absence of disease
 Presence of disease
was linked to a
significant decline in
predictions of
successful aging.

- Successful aging also involves

perceived control over the
environment.