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Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2015). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

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Social-Emotional Experience in Late Life

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Social-Emotional Experience in Late Life

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The socioemotional domain seems to be enhanced and better regulated with age. Older adults become more selective about the social relationships they want to invest their time in, valuing deep satisfying relationships. This socioemotional selectivity is a function of people's expectations as they know their time remaining is limited. Because older adults expect their lives to end soon, they pay more attention to their feelings and their emotional experiences are more enhanced and complex (Broderick & Blewitt). In relation to cognition though the number of social networks an older person had was related to less cognitive decline. This displays the importance for older individuals to retain as many social connections and engage in as many social interactions as possible to enhance cognitive reserve. Older adults experience less conflict overtime and report higher satisfaction in marriages, family relationships, and friendships due to improved emotional regulation. Older adults are also more likely to remember positive experiences than negative ones when compared to younger adults. Older people are also more accepting of things they cannot change, and were found to have increased acceptance and decreased anger and anxiety. While well-being increases up to a point older adults also show higher rates of depressive symptoms. There is a strong relationship between depressive symptoms and those suffering from higher amounts of physical and mental health problems. Although, they do show to positively respond to a variety of psychotherapeutic interventions. This impacts the counseling practice when working with elderly adults it is important to encourage social relationships as well as look for symptoms of depression.

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Fluid intelligence (processing efficiency) gradually shows decline marked by slower processing speeds and reduced inhibitory functions. This may limit the efficiency of working memory operations, such as learning and problem solving, but these effects may be balanced by the maintenance or advancement of crystallized intelligence (product of processing). Crystallized knowledge, such as verbal ability and factual knowledge does not typically show decline until the mid-70s and in some individuals who have maintained good health it continues to improve well into their 90s. As adults approach the end of their lives they begin to experience terminal decline, the deterioration of cognitive abilities. In months and years prior to death, individuals may show a substantial decline in intellectual functioning (Broderick & Blewitt). The patterns of cognitive deterioration appear to reflect the individual's declining health status and it may be linked to genetic susceptibility. The individuals often seem to be able to detect in themselves these health changes that are predictive to death. For counseling we must support the aging adult in their loss of cognitive functioning. We can provide comfort by understanding their frustrations and validating their feelings. As well as comfort the families who are now managing the older adulthood who has loss of prime cognitive functioning.

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By late adulthood, the losses of physical function are usually noticeable and require adjustment in expectation of lifestyle. The immune system becomes progressively less effective at staving off cancer and infections (Broderick & Blewitt). The cardiovascular, respiratory, and organ systems function less adequately. There are also increasing sensory deficits. The loss of visual acuity, loss of sensitive to movement in periphery, increased recovery time after exposure to glare, and reduced night vision make life's once simple tasks more difficult such as driving. Another important decline in older adults is the onset of pain, stiffness, and swelling of joints and tissues contributing to arthritis. This increases pain and reduces movement of the body. These declines in physical functioning make it increasingly important for older adults to maintain good physical and mental health by being proactive in seeking help, and making a strong commitment to treatment (Broderick & Blewitt). It becomes imperative for the older adult to make it a priority to remain physical and eat a healthy diet to reduce stress and promote health. As counselors we must take into account the extreme distress and discomfort that comes with the physical losses of late adulthood and aid with these symptoms as best as possible. Such as help maintaining goals and suggesting activities for the adult to do to promote health emotionally as well as physically.

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Midlife brings its own set of challenges involving slowly accumulating losses related to getting older, and the great demands of family and the workplace. Early to middle adulthood is suggested to be the most stressful time of life because of the conflicting pulls on time and attention. Adults in middle adulthood are frequently in higher positions of increased responsibility at work, they may have obligations of children and grandchildren, and may have to look after aging parents. These are examples of a sandwich generation. When circumstances exist that buffer the effects of demanding roles such as good social support and adequate income these demands may be perceived as less stressful (Broderick & Blewitt). Social support, such as in marriage or close personal relationships, can be a potent protective factor in managing stress and promoting health. When demands are too great, role strain may occur which takes a toll on health and well-being. It can cause physical decline and feelings of hopelessness. Finding techniques to coping with stress is essential. All coping needs to accommodate cognitive (decision making) and emotional (anxiety management) aspects. Coping can be a set of behaviors that address problem fixing or feeling better as well as other activities such as meditation or escaping for short periods to relax. A general sense of self-efficacy, optimism, self-esteem, personal control over goals, and social support are associated with greater physical and emotional health and well-being (Broderick & Blewitt). In the counseling practice it is critical for counselors to understand the basic necessities for coping with stress and applying techniques for the adult. In middle adulthood especially it is imperative we recognize the high demands that place stress on adults and aid the adult in finding ways to better promote well-being and health through addressing their current cognitions and behaviors.

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There are many factors that aid adults in sustaining a sense of well-being as they negotiate the complex and stressful realities of adulthood. Personality traits such as being extroverted or conscientious are positively correlated to well-being (Broderick & Blewitt). Life satisfaction and well-being in adulthood is strongly correlated with good social relationships. Receiving social support is clearly linked to better coping with life's stresses as well as giving social support which in turn creates personal happiness (Broderick & Blewitt). Work experience and viewing oneself as a competent worker are also important predictors of happiness. Feeling that one is making progress toward challenging goals, both in work and nonwork, is correlated with well-being (Broderick & Blewitt). If people are involved in activities that are congruent with their own deeply held values and achieve a state of "personal expressiveness" this is also associated with well-being. When people feel they are acting authentically and completely as themselves this brings positive emotions.

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Self determination in adulthood is when the adult understands one's limitations and strengths. Self determined adults have a broad goal of promoting well-being, happiness, and the fulfillment of human potential by controlling their own destinies. Those adults who are self determined make their own choices to attain goals based on their prior experiences and evaluation of their wants and needs. In self determination theory self-realization is at the core of well-being. Life satisfaction is derived from the fulfillment of psychological needs for autonomy (feeling that one's behaviors are self endorsed), competence (expressing one's talents and skills), and relatedness (opportunities to feel cared for and valued by others). Satisfaction of these basic needs support feelings of well-being. This is impacts counseling practice because a counselor can listen and see if the adult is fulfilling their psychological needs for basic well-being. If the adult is not acting in self-determining ways this could greatly affect their psychological behavior. The counselor can thus suggest ways for the adult to fulfill their needs such as expressing their true talents or allowing themselves to feel cared for.

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The family life cycle is a normative stage-like sequence of traditional family development in intact marriages. The first stage involves leaving home as young adults. The young adult accepts responsibility for him/herself and begins to develop intimate peer relationships. Next the adult looks and finds a partner through the basis of homogomy, compatibility, and feelings of love. The couple marries and shortly after brings babies into the world. Care taking responsibilities are integrated into the marital relationship and each partner adjusts to new parental role. The babies grow and soon will become adolescents. This brings about increasing the flexibility of family boundaries to permit children's independence. There is also a new focus on midlife marital and career issues. Next, the couple must deal with the transition of launching their children and negotiating the marital relationship. They develop adult-to-adult relationships with their children and maintenance of connection. Then families in later life must accept shifting generational roles such as becoming grandparents, dealing with the loss of a spouse, and physical decline. This family life ebb and flow obviously only gives a "normative" look into families. Of course many adults do not follow this family life cycle such as becoming a single parent, divorce, loss of a child, and much more. This family life cycle gives superficial insight for counseling practice to look at the current challenges and tasks the adult is facing during that stage in the cycle. It provides a framework of what may accompany a family and highlights the important transitions counselors can aid their clients with.

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Erikson describes stages in self-development in adulthood. In middle adulthood generativity vs. stagnation becomes most important as the individual gives one's own life purpose by building for the next generation through work, community involvement, or procreation. By old age establishing ego integrity vs. despair becomes life's task. A process of life review helps the elderly adult feel they lived a life with a sense of purpose, meaning, order, and dignity. Vaillant suggested two more adult life stages that should be added. Starting in the mid-twenties career consolidation vs. self absorption is the focus of self-development. Making a commitment to work that brings personal satisfaction becomes important. Then in late middle adulthood the keeper of meaning vs. rigidity stage becomes important. The adult seeks ways to establish meaningfulness of the work or contributions they have made. These theories on self-development and ego identity impact counseling practice by providing a framework in which the adult's feelings and choices can be seen not just as random but have deeper meaning. It allows the counselor to view the adult as aspiring to meet certain needs and desires during each stage. It is not the sole basis in which counselors view or make inferences but it does add perspective to understanding the adult's situation.

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Cognitive changes experienced in middle adulthood involve improvements and declines. Fluid intelligence is most likely to show declines in middle adulthood. Fluid, or mechanical functions include processing speed and inhibitory functions. For example at age 30 information processing speed may begin to slow down then at age 40 it begins to decline fairly rapidly. By age 40 older adults may be more easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli, be slower to take in information and slower to respond to it (Broderick & Blewitt). Executive functions (EFs) are also linked to fluid intelligence that begin to show decline. EFs involve the prefrontal cortex which affects strategic planning and problem solving, creative thinking, maintaining attention, adapting to changing circumstances, avoiding impulsive actions, etc. In late middle adulthood working memory, or the active attentive part of the brain that stores information for the present moment, seems to also decline. Fewer pieces of information can be attended to at one time, and problem solving or learning can be affected as a result. Crystallized intelligence, or the compilation of skills and information we have acquired throughout our lives, is less likely to decline and for some it may continue to improve into late adulthood. Examples are knowledge of language, how to do a job, or play an instrument, or strategies for solving problems or memorizing. Despite the reduced efficiency adults throughout adulthood continue to learn.

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This is a macrotheory in which provides understanding for human aging. Viewing development as a lifespan process makes it clear that change in functioning with age involves gains and losses. Gains can be the development of new ways of thinking and understanding the world and losses can be biological for example as our physical system begins to decline in adulthood. Life span theory also incorporates development as a process of adapting to influences in our lives. Such as growth when we learn new skills or understand more, resilience as we find ways to continue functioning in the face of challenges, and regulation of loss which involves reorganizing our behavior to adjust our expectations and accept a lower level of functioning. At each stage the individual learns to adapt depending on their physical and developmental resources they have acquired. Healthy coping involves successful development and we as counselors can help aid an individual evolve to learn healthy coping strategies to adapt to aging. The life span theory allows the us as helpers to see the life span as an organized process of continuity not just disconnected parts of a life story.

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Physical Development in Middle Adulthood

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Physical Development in Middle Adulthood

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By age 30 there begins a shift from adolescing, or growing up, to senescing, or "growing down". Physical declines include wrinkling or hair loss, effectiveness of immune processes or cardiovascular functioning, and sensory system decline. Sensory decline in sensitivity includes visual acuity as many adults notice they may have trouble with vision or trouble seeing as good in dark lighting and the decline of their hearing. Declines are subtle but by age 40 individuals become much more aware of physical losses. The reproductive system begins to change in the 40s or 50s as well. Beginning in the 40s a woman may experience climacteric, the gradual reduction of reproductive ability, leading to menopause, the cessation of menstruation. A loss of estrogen and estradiol (the major female hormones) influences thinning and coarsening of pubic hair, thinning and wrinkling of labia, vaginal dryness, fatigues, headaches, insomnia, and hot flashes. Sexual functioning and pleasure are not affected. Men begin to experience loss of testosterone which contributes to loss of muscle mass and bone density. About 50% of men ages 40 to 70 may experience erectile dysfunction (Broderick & Blewitt). As adults begin the aging process it is important to keep in mind in the counseling practice this is a sensitive time as the individual begins to navigate losing peak physical functioning, contributing to feelings of sadness and loss. We must aid the individual in understanding it is a normal occurrence, to accept the aging process, and to build healthy physical habits as they become much more important with age.