Psychosocial, Retirement, Relationships and Societal Issues
Chapter 15
Psychosocial Aging
Continuity Theory: cope w/ daily life...
Application of familiar strategies
Maintain internal/external psych structures
Internal = inner past, self-concept, experiences
• Provides connection to past, feelings of mastery/esteem
External = physical/social environments
• Provides connections to people
Psychosocial Aging
Maintaining continuity key for health
Too little = feeling life is unpredictable
Too much = boredom
Optimal = challenge w/in resources
Psychosocial Aging
Competence & environmental press
Competence: upper limits of functioning
Physical health, motor skills, etc.
Environ press: demands placed on person
Physical, social, interpersonal
High competence + moderate press = good adjustment w/ adaptive behaviors/outcomes
Other healthy combinations possible
Indiv differences (proactivity = high competence)
Personality & Spirituality
Integrity vs. despair: process of evaluation
Life review
Integrity = satisfied w/ choices, experiences, & that life is coming to a close
Feel happy to have lived the life they did, high esteem
Despair = regret, bitter, guilty, meaningless, fear death
Depressed, unhappy
Well being & social cognition
Subjective well being: positive evaluation of one’s life (life satisfaction, happiness, esteem)
Factors impacting SWB include
Chronic illness
Social network
Stress
Control beliefs
• Impact goals, behavior
Religiosity & Spirituality
Use of religion common among older adults (cope w/ stress)
Even more than friends, family
Spiritual support common
Seeking help from religious activities, church members, God
Linked w/ well-being (more the better)
Religiosity & Spirituality
Turning to God/religion for help
Determining what can/cannot be changed
Focusing efforts on changeable things
Emotionally separating from stable features
God will take care of those things
Retirement
Relatively recent phenomenon (few before 1930s)
Retirements increasing rapidly & fixed career length part of expectations
Retirement: process of w/drawal from full time participation in a occupation
Crisp
Blurred (> 50% & more men)
Career job v. bridge job before final retirement
Retirement
Why?
Choice due to financial security or health
Forced due to job loss
Loss of identity, roles, esteem
Women more likely to retire to care for dependents
Adjustment to Retirement
Life transition involving changing roles
Positive adjustment linked w/
Financial security
Social support
Health
Voluntary retirement
High competence
Emphasis on family roles (only for men)
Friends & Family
Importance of relationships increases
Most valued thing in life
Social convoy: group w/ us during life providing support
Critical all throughout adulthood
Friendships
Quality key in late life (fewer in number than earlier)
Close friend buffers against stress
Women have more
Friends & Family
Sibling relationships
Important for most adults (especially sisters)
Diversity in relationships
Intimate (14%)
Congenial (30%)
Loyal (34%)
Apathetic (11%) - far less common among AA
Hostile (11%) - far less common among AA
Marriage
Marital satisfaction improves in later life
Children leave
Unhappy marriages broken up
Less conflict, more pleasure
Similar in health
Marriage helps respond adaptively
Disease, disabilities
Housework more egalitarian
Caring for Partner
Disease, accident one cares for the other
New role (leader, parent)
Division of labor changes
Intimacy, companionship, marital satisfaction decreases
Frustration, guilt, depression
Less for those high in competence
Widowhood
Most older couples will end due to death
Most common for women
> 50% women, 15% men over 65
Social isolation (worse for men)
Men at higher risk for dying, depression
• Limited social resources & life skills
Women higher risk of poverty
Men 5X more likely to form new romantic relationships & remarry (but not friendships)
Social Issues
Minority of older adults are frail
Disabilities, illness or various impairments
Declining competence (needs help w/ daily activities)
Anxiety and depression common
Increases w/ age
• 5% 65-74
• 20% over 85
Nursing Homes
Not desirable for most but often necessary
5% older adults live in nursing homes
50% > 85 will spend some time
Assisted living facilities increasing
Supportive (but not full time) care
Nursing Homes
Characteristics of typical resident
> 85
White female
Recent hospital stay
Retirement housing
Unmarried/lives alone
No children or nearby siblings
Cognitively impaired
Problems w/ daily living activities
Nursing Homes
What makes a good nursing home?
Quality of life issues
Food, physical facilities, grooming & personal care
Staff (enough, training)
Safety
Person centered policies
Promote well being by enhancing personal control & treating residents w/ respect
Reduce patronization, infantilization
Elder Abuse
Many forms
Physical
Sexual
Emotional/psychological
Financial
Abandonment
Neglect
Self-neglect
Elder Abuse
Prevalence
1996 (551,000 > 60)
Neglect most common (60%)
Elder abuse victims (90% abused by family)
Women more likely to be abused
> 80 higher risk of abuse
Poverty
Level of impairment
Elder Abuse
Causes
History of abuse
Stress
Intrapersonal and interpersonal problems
Poor social support