Comprehensive Analysis: Development of Adulthood and Aging Assignment

This essay delves into the multifaceted realm of adult development and aging, dissecting prevalent myths and contrasting them with scientific realities. It examines the misconceptions surrounding older adults, such as stereotypes about their physical and cognitive abilities, social engagement, and health. The essay highlights the importance of a lifespan developmental perspective, contrasting it with stage theories and emphasizing the need for evidence-based claims. It explores key concepts like ageism, primary and secondary aging, the 3 Ds of geriatric psychiatry (depression, dementia, and delirium), and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). Furthermore, it investigates the role of aging in memory, the Big Five personality traits, stages of dying, and factors influencing positive aging and quality of life. The essay draws upon research and provides a comprehensive overview of the psychological and social aspects of aging, offering valuable insights for students and researchers alike. It also provides a detailed bibliography of the sources used in the essay.

Running Head: DEVELOPMENT OF ADULTHOOD AND AGING
DEVELOPMENT OF ADULTHOOD AND AGING
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Myths and realities of aging
According to the American psychological association (APA), the sum total of older
Americans in the age group of 65 and above is estimated to double by the year 2060. The
admirable goals to be achieved by the older people of the nation involve a healthy, active, and
productive lifestyle. However, several existing views about aging are built on invalid
information that is not in sync with current scientific advances anymore. Older adults are
frequently categorized by their age and not by distinct individual features. This labeling often
leads to erroneous aging stereotypes. Following myths about aging reflect chief
misconceptions about older adults:
 Older people mostly live in nursing homes, and they end up being alone and lonely
 They show no to minimum interest and capacity to engage in sex or intimacy
 Senility is a customary outcome of aging, and the risk of older adults developing
Alzheimer's' disease cannot be reduced in any way
 Absence of disease is the only indicator of good health in older adults
 Elders turn out to be more religious with age
 Older workers are not as productive as younger workers
 Retired people of older age group suffer a health deterioration and early death
 Most older adults have a poor health status
 Most older people live in conditions of poverty
 Older adults tend to be victims of crime more than other age groups
The realities reveal the incorrectness of the prevailing ageist prejudices in society. The key
realistic views about older people are-

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 Only about 5% of older Americans reside in nursing homes at any particular time.
Friends and family play an essential role in the lives of older individuals. Also, a
stable friendship with close friends is maintained throughout life. People having
several close friends through life-course continue to befriend many as they age.
 Most of the older adults remain engaged socially and dynamic, carry on their work,
offer to volunteer for different causes, and take on caregiving roles for family
members. Consistent positive interactions with friends and family, help them to
maintain involvement in various social networks, which enumerate positive effects,
both physically and emotionally. On the contrary, solitude disrupts their physical and
emotional wellbeing.
 Even though regularity and rate of sexual activity may decrease in old age, several
older adults sustain a sex life that is physically and emotionally satisfying. The
benefits of remaining sexually active include improved sleep, stress relief, positive
mood, and better satisfaction with the partner.
 Older adults are proficient at learning new skills in later ages, although the process
may take a long time as compared to that in younger adults.
 The risk of older adults to develop Alzheimer's disease is reducible, and underlying
factors such as physical or mental idleness, smoking, obesity, diabetes, hypertension,
and depression can be modified. Further, cognitive skills can be conserved through an
active lifestyle.
 Another misconception regarding aging is that being old means being ill. Physical
changes with increasing age is a natural phenomenon. Even when older adults
develop one or more disease conditions, they make alterations in their lives in order to
persist independence.

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Concept of ageism
A broad definition of ageism is the incidence of any age-related bias or
discrimination. It can be described as a stereotyping or prejudicial treatment against people
based on their age. For older people, ageism is a challenge they frequently tackle, thereby
facing its various harmful effects, including partiality in workplace and employment,
limitations from social services, and media stereotypes. Such widespread practice of ageism
marginalizes and disregards older adults in their communities.
Moreover, all these attitudes prevailing in the society that foster preconceived notions
about aging and older people facilitate biased behavior and perceptions towards them,
resulting in detrimental effects on their mental and physical health. The primary reason for
harboring so many misconceptions about aging may have arisen from a belief that all older
adults are alike, which is not valid. As this age group comprises five decades of individuals,
the variances between older adults are significant, and more than that of other groups. They
may also undergo a host of changes in physical health, which are commonly manifested with
age. However, just as characteristics of all older adults are not the same, their health status
also differs.
Lifespan development
Lifespan Development refers to the course of development of human life from
conception to death. It is a whole approach to understand all the entailing physiological,
cognitive, emotional, and social changes that people experience. This includes age-related
changes that arise from birth, throughout a persons' life, into and during old age. Baltes'
lifespan perspective underlines that development is a continual, multidimensional,
multidirectional, contextual, and multidisciplinary process. Life span developmental
psychology inspects patterns of change and steadiness in psychological features across the

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lifecycle. This approach considers both intraindividual ontogenesis (development within an
individual), and interindividual differences in developmental paths. On the other hand,
developmental stage theories lay down concepts that divide the process of development into
separate stages, which are categorized by qualitative modifications in behavior. There are
some diverse views about how psychological and physical progress ensues throughout the life
span.
Primary and secondary aging
“Primary aging” refers to the usual health deviations connected with aging. These
include skin and hair changes, height and weight alterations, impaired hearing, and eye
disease. However, such alterations can be decreased by controlling contact with the sunrays,
consumption of a nourishing diet, and maintaining physical activities. Secondary aging can
be described as the changes that are caused by the presence of ailment or disease. Such
conditions may diminish independence, affect the “quality of life”, disrupts family and
caregivers, and cause an economic burden. A few of the most predominant disorders that
cause damage are arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, and stroke, cancer,
osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's disease.
The 3 Ds of aging and IADLs
Geriatric psychiatry comprises of the 3 D's (depression, dementia & delirium). All
three of these illnesses can influence the thoughts and perceptions, mood and emotions,
cognition such as memory, attention, concentration, behaviors, activities of daily living, and
physical health. Older persons can simultaneously suffer from more than one of these
conditions. Many of them are left undiagnosed or are wrongly treated for their depression,
dementia, or delirium due to overlapping symptoms, which often create misdiagnosis.

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Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are activities associated with
independent living and are valued evaluation tools for persons with diseases in early-stage,
both to estimate the disease level and to govern the person's capability of self-care
management. The eight domains regarding the IADLs on which the elderly are determined,
are the capacity of using a telephone, shopping, cooking, housework, washing, traveling,
medication responsibility, and skill to manage finances.
Role of aging in memory
The memory capacity of an individual not only related to age, instead it is
multifactorial. Age is a factor that often adversely impact memory aptitude, although it is not
the only aspect responsible for affecting memory. Any older individual who retains an active
lifestyle through regular physical and mental activity, along with social interaction, could
possess a sharp short-term memory, similar to that of someone who is several decades
younger. Whereas, sedentary lifestyle and isolation in older persons will likely cause inferior
retention of short-term memory. Also, content older adults have better memory control than
those who are stressed or depressed. Blood pressure and hours of sleeping are physical
factors that stimulate short-term memory. High blood pressure restricts the supply of blood to
the brain, decreasing the brain flexibility to retain and recall information. Since older adults
tend to have high blood pressure, it quickly leads to the common assumption that older adults
experience memory retention difficulties and poor memory cognition.
Big five of personality development and stages of dying
The Big Five personality traits, also recognized as the five-factor model for
personality traits, outline the essential qualities that aid in building the personality. These
traits include extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. The
central idea involved in Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is that the

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development of personality is cultivated through stages, and at every stage, a psychosocial
crunch unravels in a way that establishes our personality advancement according to the
outcomes obtained. Kubler-Ross and colleagues devised a five-stage model of death and
dying. The varied emotional responses between people regarding death after its
acknowledgment are extricated via these stages. They are commonly denoted by an
abbreviation “DABDA”, which refers to “denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and
acceptance”.
Positive aging and quality of life
“Resilience, self-care behavior, age, education, and gender” are considered to be the
predictive factors of quality of life, related to the physical health of older adults. Mental
health quality of life is indicated by factors such as flexibility, marital status, and self-care
behavior. Generally, the older adults leading a healthy lifestyle are more likely to have an
optimistic attitude towards the process of aging. It is frequently observed that individuals
having lesser chronic illnesses, lower depressive signs, and fewer limitations of activities of
daily living are more inclined to pursue holistic self-perceptions about their aging and foster
positive attitudes.

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Bibliography
Baltes, P. B., Lindenberger, U., & Staudinger, U. M. (2007). Life span theory in
developmental psychology. Handbook of child psychology, 1.
Cox, H. G. (2015). Later life: The realities of aging. Routledge.
Dionigi, R. A. (2015). Stereotypes of aging: Their effects on the health of older adults.
Journal of Geriatrics, 2015.
Levy, S. R., & Macdonald, J. L. (2016). Progress on understanding ageism. Journal of Social
Issues, 72(1), 5-25.
Puente, A. N., Lindbergh, C. A., & Miller, L. S. (2015). Personality's association with IADLs
in community dwelling older adults. International journal of geriatric psychiatry,
30(9), 950-956.
Salzman, B. (2006). Myths and realities of aging. Care Management Journals, 7(3), 141-150.
Potter, J., Cantarero, R., & Wood, H. (2012). The multi-dimensional nature of predicting
quality of life. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 50, 781-790.
American Psychological Association. (2013). Older Adults’ Health and Age-Related
Changes: Reality Versus Myth [Internet]. Washington, DC: Office of Public
Communications.
Weng, C. F., Lin, K. P., Lu, F. P., Chen, J. H., Wen, C. J., Peng, J. H., ... & Chan, D. C.
(2019). Effects of depression, dementia and delirium on activities of daily living in
elderly patients after discharge. BMC geriatrics, 19(1), 261.

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Fernández-Ballesteros, R., Kruse, A., Zamarrón, M. D., & Caprara, M. (2007). 12. Quality of
Life, Life Satisfaction, and Positive Aging. GeroPsychology: European perspectives
for an aging world, 197.