Occupational Therapy Lifespan and Middle Adulthod

1. Occupational Therapy Lifespan
Middle Adulthood

2. The aging process Middle Adulthood (Ages 40-65)
- During middle adulthood, the aging process becomes
more apparent.
- Around the age of 60, the eyes lose their ability to adjust
to objects at varying distances, known as presbyopia.
Most people between the ages of 40 and 60 will need
some form of corrective lenses for vision deficits.
- Middle-aged adults are also at higher risk than younger
adults for certain eye problems, such as glaucoma.
- Hearing also further declines: 14 percent of middle-
aged have hearing problems.

3. The aging process Middle Adulthood (Ages 40-65)
- Skin continues to dry out and is prone to more
wrinkling, particularly on the sensitive face area.
- Age spots and blood vessels become more apparent as
the skin continues to dry and get thinner.
- The muscle-to-fat ratio for both men and women also
changes throughout middle adulthood, with an
accumulation of fat in the stomach area.

4. The aging process Middle Adulthood (Ages 40-65)
- Women experience a gradual decline in fertility as they
approach the onset of menopause—the end of the
menstrual cycle—around 50 years old. This process
involves hormonal changes and may last anywhere from
six months to five years.
- Because of the shifting hormone levels, women going
through menopause often experience a range of other
symptoms, such as anxiety, poor memory, inability to
concentrate, depressive mood, irritability, mood swings,
and less interest in sexual activity.

6. Cognitive Development in Adulthood
- Cognition changes over a person’s lifespan, peaking at
around age 35 and slowly declining in later adulthood.
- Because we spend so many years in adulthood ,
cognitive changes are numerous during this period.
- Adult cognitive development is a complex, ever-
changing process that may be even more active than
cognitive development in infancy and early childhood
- Unlike our physical abilities, which peak in our mid-20s
and then begin a slow decline, our cognitive abilities
remain relatively steady throughout early and middle
adulthood.

7. Cognitive Development in Adulthood
- Research has found that adults who engage in mentally
and physically stimulating activities experience less
cognitive decline in later adult years and have a reduced
incidence of mild cognitive impairment and dementia
- Cognition development in adults often occurs in a social
setting, through dialogue and testing ideas with others
Adaptive experts:
- 1. Continually apply themselves to solving problems
- 2. Converse with others about cognitive problems
- 3. Apply their minds for sake of the challenge
- 4. Are surrounded by a social group

8. Middle Adulthood
- Two forms of intelligence—crystallized and fluid—are
the main focus of middle adulthood.
- Our crystallized intelligence is dependent upon
accumulated knowledge and experience—it is the
information, skills, and strategies we have gathered
throughout our lifetime. This kind of intelligence tends
to hold steady as we age—in fact, it may even improve.
- For example, adults show relatively stable to increasing
scores on intelligence tests until their mid-30s to mid-
50s

9. Middle Adulthood
- Fluid intelligence, on the other hand, is more dependent
on basic information-processing skills and starts to
decline even prior to middle adulthood.
- Cognitive processing speed slows down during this stage
of life, as does the ability to solve problems and divide
attention.
- However, practical problem-solving skills tend to
increase. These skills are necessary to solve real-world
problems and figure out how to best achieve a desired
goal.

10. Social and Emotional Aspects of Adulthood
- There are many theories about the social and emotional
aspects of aging. Some aspects of healthy aging include
activities, social connectedness, and the role of a
person’s culture.
- We need to have and continue to find meaning
throughout our lives
- Positive relationships with significant others in our
adult years have been found to contribute to a state of
well-being

11. Crises in Middle Adulthood
- The main triggers for a mid-life crisis include problems
with work, trouble in a marriage, children growing up
and leaving the home, or the aging or death of a
person’s parents.
- This is likely to occur during Erikson’s stage of
generativity vs. stagnation, a time when people think
about the contribution they are making to the world.
- Generativity involves finding one’s life’s work and
contributing to the development of others through
activities such as volunteering, mentoring, and raising
children; those who do not master this task may
experience a feeling of stagnation.

12. Crises in Middle Adulthood
Individuals having a mid-life crisis may experience some
of the following:
- A search for an undefined dream or goal;
- A deep sense of regret for goals not accomplished;
- A fear of humiliation among more successful
colleagues;
- A desire to achieve a feeling of youthfulness;
- A need to spend more time alone or with certain peers.

13. Erikson’s stage of generativity vs stagnation
- Erikson’s stage of Generativity vs. Stagnation revolves
around a person’s sense of their contribution to the
world.
- Generativity is about making life productive and
creative so that it matters to others, especially those in
the next generation.
- According to Erikson, a person who is self-centered
and unable or unwilling to help society move forward
develops a feeling of stagnation—a dissatisfaction with
the relative lack of productivity.

14. The central tasks during middle adulthood can include:
- Expressing love through more than sexual contacts
- Maintaining healthy life patterns
- Helping growing and grown children to be responsible
adults
- Relinquishing a central role in the lives of grown
children
- Creating a comfortable home
- Being proud of one’s accomplishments
- Taking care of aging parents
- Adjusting to the physical changes of middle age
- Using leisure time creatively.

15. The Middle Life Crisis
At middle adulthood, the focus often shifts back to the
individual.
- Children no longer dependent.
- Career is stable or (worse) declining/boring.
- Marriage now returns to spouse centered.
- May have insecurities related to physical changes.
- Any previous issues with identity are going to
resurface.

16. Middle Adulthood
Social Changes:
- Peer group becomes increasingly important as children
move out and own parents die.
- Marriage is often at a make of break point due to
“empty nest.”

17. Success in Middle Adulthood
- Keeping the Picture “Big” – Adults who stay focused
on healthy relationships with their significant other
and children are happier as they reach later adulthood
and retirement.
- Adults who are engaged in social activities and
meaningful hobbies are less likely to feel stagnant and
bored in later life.
- Intellectually active adults are happier and healthier.
- Adults who protect their health earlier in life will
benefit from better health with aging.

18. Marriage development in middle adulthood
- Marital happiness follows u-shaped curve
- Very early in marriage, satisfaction is high
- Satisfaction is lowest during childrearing stages
- Dramatic increase in happiness in “empty nest” stage
- Drop in satisfaction late in marriage
- Changes more noted in wives than in husbands

19. Theories of career development Donald Super (1957; 1990)
Sequence of developmental changes in context of work
Establishment phase (age 25-40)
- Trying out different work, followed by carving out a
secure place, then career advancement
Maintenance phase (age 45-60)
- Observably different accomplishments and subjective
change in attitude toward work. Consolidate and
maintain achievements

20. Decline or disengagement phase
- Onset depends on health etc. of worker and economic
factors.
- Activities slow down, followed by retirement

21. Theories of career development Daniel Levinson (1978, 1986):
- Life structure subsumes all facets of life activity
- During every stable period, psychological energy is
devoted to “structure building” i.e., concerted pursuit
of goals, values and life activities selected during
previous phase
- Change is inevitable
- Every stable period is inevitably followed by another
“structure changing” or “transitional” period

23. Retirement
- Issues in retirement
Five stages (Robert Atchley, 1976)
1. Still at work
2. Honeymoon
3. Disenchantment
4. Reorientation
5. Stability