Adulthood: An Introduction by Rita M. Curl-Langager, PhD
Adulthood: An Introduction offers a comprehensive exploration of the human lifespan beyond adolescence.
This groundbreaking book delves into the physical, cognitive, personal, and social changes throughout adulthood that impact individual outcomes and quality of life.
Section I Themes, Theories, and Methods of Study
Chapter 1 presents a multifaceted perspective of people from ancient cultures, recently industrialized countries, and developed versus developing countries today. Cross-continent comparisons illustrate patterns of increased human longevity and shifts in population growth and decline.
Chapter 2 identifies dominant developmental theorists, describes the theoretical approaches they constructed, and explains how theories influence current lines of research. The chapter describes five major domains of development and six developmental themes.
Chapter 3 describes the investigative process known as the scientific method. The chapter begins with discussions and illustrations of research designs followed by explanations of research procedures that make it possible to determine what influences diverse outcomes in adult development.
Section II Biological Foundations of Adulthood
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Chapter 4 describes typical aging by major biological systems of the human body that make cognitive and social aspects of life possible. During early adulthood, organ systems reach maximum potential and begin a gradual 1% decline each year. Steady physical decline during middle age and late adulthood often precedes changes in psychological behavior, especially near the end of life.
Chapter 5 identifies patterns of behavior that promote health and manage disease in young, middle, and late adulthood. Successful aging depends on maintaining a balance between nutrition, physical activity, disease management, and intellectual challenge. A majority of adults remains healthy and retains a high level of satisfaction with life even as chronic conditions are evident.
Section III Cognition, Intelligence, and Personality Development
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Chapter 6 identifies several strategies for defining and assessing intelligence. It provides a summary of brain regions responsible for intellectual capacity and mechanisms of memory function. The chapter includes explanations of memory systems and complex cognitive processes such as critical thinking and everyday problem solving. The chapter concludes with characteristics of cognitive behavior across the lifespan.
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Chapter 7 describes stage theories associated with J. Piaget, neo-Piagetians, and K. W. Schaie that distinguish cognitive processes underlying other adult cognitive behavior including wisdom, religiosity, expertise, and creativity. Cognitively, young adults reach a heightened levels of ability; middle-aged adults achieve maximum potential; older adults experience tremendous variation in cognitive maintenance and decline.
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Chapter 8 presents a systems approach to organize personality theories and support a comprehensive explanation of personality formation. Young adults experience identity assimilation and knowledge of self in diverse contexts. Personal and social priorities in middle age correspond with family responsibilities, personal goals, and understanding of self. The challenge of late adulthood rests on one’s ability to establish psychological well-being in the face of the demands of aging.
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Chapter 9 presents issues in mental health, beginning with components of good mental health and continuing with dominant issues of young, middle, and late adulthood. Mental health disorders exacerbated by poor coping strategies lead to diminished quality of life, depression, and suicide. Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias become evident in middle age, but noticeably affect cognitive decline later in life.
Section IV The Context of Adulthood
Chapter 10 describes central themes of intimate relationships in early, middle, and late adulthood. Home leaving, establishing self-sufficiency, experiencing intimacy, and establishing one’s own family system are central themes in early adulthood. Middle age signals time limits for achieving personal goals and lowered levels of satisfaction related to concerns of aging, demands of teenage children and aging parents, and partner relationships. Late adulthood leads to expanded commitments to family, friends, and community and the requirement for support from others.
Chapter 11 focuses on the dynamic interaction between educational, occupational, and retirement activities during adulthood. Career roles may be stable, but employment demands threaten job obsolescence, require learning new skills, or lead to career changes. Employment stability and career advancement demand extensive energy during middle age. Voluntary and involuntary retirement and decisions not to retire accompany issues of cognitive and physical health. Social support and continued leisure activity are essential to successful aging and life satisfaction.
Chapter 12 presents end-of-life processes that precede death. In anticipation of death, legal procedures ensure the desired distribution of property, but preparations for death seem to have limited impact on the actual dying process. At the time that death becomes eminent, dying individuals and their close family and friends begin a final life review. Physicians and family members increasingly make life prolonging and terminating decisions, including extensive discussions of ethical concerns that precede conclusions. Death remains inevitable, and bereavement by family and friends punctuates the final stage of life.