Human Development Throughout the Life Cycle

1
Human Development Throughout the Life Cycle

• Fatima Alhaidar
• Professor Consultant Child, Adolescent
  Psychiatrist
• College of Medicine, KSU

2
B. Adulthood (AH)

• AH is longest phase of human life.
• AH is divided into 3 main parts young or early
  AH ( 20-40), middle AH (40-65), late AH or old
  age ( gt 65).
• Most adults adapt to similar circumstances
  establishing independent identity, forming a
  marriage, raising children, building\maintaining
  careers, and accepting the disability\ death of
  ones parents.

3
Early AH

• 20-40
• Characteristics
• Peaking biological development
• Assumption of major social roles
• Evolution of adult self life structure

4
Important events.

• Graduation from high school
• Starting a job or entering college
• Living independently
• During 20s, exploring options for occupation
  marriage and making commitments
• At age of 30, question choices ?
• During 30s, reaffirm commitments ? smooth
  transition, or experience major crisis ? marital
  problems, job changes and psychiatric problems.

5
Developmental tasks.

• To develop a young-adult sense of self others
• adult friendships
• the capacity of intimacy (
  spouse)
• become biological psychological parent
• develop a relationship of mutuality
  equality with parents
• establish an adult work identity
• develop adult forms of play
• integrate new attitudes towards time

6
Psychological process.

• According to Erik Erikson, the specific phase
  that applies to young adulthood is the
  development of intimacy vs. isolation. It is the
  time for intimate relationship and commitment to
  others.

7
Occupation.

• Healthy adaptation to work provides outlet for
  creativity, satisfactory relationships with
  colleagues, pride in accomplishment and increased
  self-esteem.
• The incidence of alcohol dependence, homicide,
  violence and mental illness rises with
  unemployment.

8
Marriage.

• Most persons in the US marry for the first time
  in their mid-to late 20s.
• Age of first marriage has increased
• Number of persons who never marry has increased
• Marriage rate has declined
• Divorce rate has declined
• Still, marriage ended in divorce has increased.

9
Parenthood.

• Men are concerned with their work and
  occupational advancement. Women are concerned
  with child rearing.
• Single-parent families.

10
Middle AH

• 40-65
• 40 is the moon of life
• Experience the gap between early
  aspiration and current achievements
• Reviewing the past
• How life has gone
• What the future will be like.
• During 40s, important gender changes occur ?
  more masculine activities
• more emotional expression ?

11
Developmental tasks.

• Aging
• Stock taking
• Reassessing commitments to family, work,
  marriage
• Dealing with parental illness and death
• Generativity vs stagnation.
• Stability in parental home predicted a
  well-adjusted adulthood

12
Sexuality.

• Sexual activity may decline but enjoyment
  continue.
• Mostly due to psychological factors stress,
  anxiety, fatigue, alcohol and drugs, difficulty
  to deal with body image.

13
Climacterium.

• A period of decreased biological and
  physiological functioning.
• ? - menopause - 40-50s - ( depression and
  anxiety )
• ? - midlife crisis 50s - ( drastic change in
  work or marital life, depression, alcohol).
• Midlife crisis a term used to describe a wide
  range of emotional struggles leading to serious
  maladaptive behavior.
• Those who tend to have it tend to come from
  families with parental discord, anxious or
  impulsive parents with low sense of
  responsibility.
• During that period , some persons feel a sense of
  urgency to do or accomplish al they can before
  time runs out remarry, abandon careers to pursue
  interests of the moment.
• However, for most people, they face the prospect
  that some of lifes goals will be left
  unaccomplished. It is the period of growing
  appreciation for what one does have and a gradual
  letting go of what might have been.

14
Late AH ( Old Age )

• 65
• Young old 65-74
• Old-old 75-84
• Oldest-old 85

15
Biology of aging.

• Most of older persons retain their cognitive
  abilities to remarkable degree.
• Aging means the aging of cells. Each cell has
  genetically determined life span during which it
  can replicate itself a limited number of times
  before it dies.

16
Longevity.

• Predictors of longevity include heredity,
  regular medical checkups, minimal caffeine , no
  alcohol consumption, work gratification,
  perceived sense of being socially useful, healthy
  eating exercise.

17
Personality of life span

• Stability in five basic traits extraversion (
  slightly ?), neuroticism, agreeableness (
  slightly ? ), openness to experience,
  conscientiousness.

18
Social activity.

• Older persons usually maintain social life.
• Physical illness, death of friends relatives
  may preclude continued social interaction.
• Social interaction and care for younger persons
  maintain sense of usefulness and self-esteem.

19
Emotional health.

• Having been close to siblings during college
  correlate with emotional well-being.
• Parental death or divorce did not correlate with
  poor adaptation
• Being depressed between 20-50 predicted emotional
  problems
• Personality traits of pragmatism dependability
  were associated with sense of well-being.

20
Retirement.

• For many old person, retirement is a time for
  leisure and freedom from resposibilities and work
  commitments
• For some, it is a time for distress ( economic
  problems, loss of self-esteem, feeling of being
  unproductive loneliness.

21
Psychiatric problems of older persons.

• Major depressive disorder and dysthymia are less
  than in younger age group.
• Depression is associated with physical symptoms
  and cognitive impairment (pseudo dementia).
• Suicide is high ( ? with mental illness, ? with
  physical illness)
• Good mental health physical health are related.