Psychological Aging Chapter 5

1. Psychological AgingChapter 5 HPR 452

2. Personality • Does personality change as people grow older, or is it stable? Yes to both • Reflects continuity as well as a variability of change • Studies conclude that there is a remarkable consistency of adult personality • They have spent a lifetime developing strategies for coping and adapting • Does not exclude the possibility of some general personality alterations

3. “Interiority” – A change in focus from external environment to the person’s interior world • Passive mastery of environment – accommodation rather than trying to change the “dangerous and complex” world • Big Five Personality Taxonomy – pg 80 in book • Extroversion • Neuroticism • Conscientiousness • Agreeableness • Openness to Experience/Intellect • Caspi, Roberts and Shiner (2005)

4. Found stability in Big Five – Personality changes throughout adulthood but only moderately after 50 and…. • People become more dominant, agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable over the course of their lives • Older individuals experience a decline in openness to new experience • Continuity and change co-exist as experiences strengthen and affirm existing characteristics

5. Another study – Roberts, Walton and Viechtbauer (2006) • Change and continuity in 6 personality traits • Emotional stability – increases until age 70 • Conscientiousness - increase • Agreeableness - increase • Social Dominance • Social Vitality- decrease • Openness to new experiences - decrease • Personality changes primarily in young adulthood and a small amount in old age

6. Ages 60 to 70 – Increase in conscientiousness and agreeableness and decrease in social vitality and openness to new experiences • Over 70 – increase in conscientiousness and decrease in openness and emotional stability • No gender differences in these findings • Most remain basically the same unless traumatic events (disease, disability, loss) bring about change

7. Developmental TasksWhat an individual needs to accomplish, adjustments that need to be made, problems to solve • Middle Aged adults are concerned with leaving a legacy and using their job and civic responsibility as productivity • Older adults strive to find a sense of integrity and closure to their life lived (vs. despair) • Characteristics of Maturity Allport (1961) Pg. 81 • Elderly must address 2 opposite tasks • Adjusting to physical losses (Acceptance) • Searching for continued meaning (Growth) • Figures 5.1 and 5.2 – Pgs 82-83 • Adaptation is crucial to accomplish these tasks

8. Adaptation Personal Characteristics and Environmental Conditions and the interactions between the two Carp (1972) - Adjustment • Fairly stable personality and behavior • Positive attitude toward others • Favorable assessment of others • Active involvement in life • Satisfaction with past and present • Positive appraisal of general health • Intellectual competence • Ego strength

9. Authors felt these should be added • Easy going or optimistic disposition • Internal locus of control • Self-efficacy • Social support Ruth and Coleman (1996) • Stability despite Loss phenomenon • Most individuals are able to adapt to change and retain, or even increase earlier levels of life satisfaction and happiness – especially true in the young old with slight declines in those over 70

10. Mental Health • “satisfactory adjustment to one’s life stage and situation” • Intertwined with adaptation • Aging process is slow so individuals have time to adapt • But, physical and emotional energy required to adapt and recover from the stress may result in behavioral responses (i.e. loss of hope, decreased self-esteem, social isolation, feeling of burden, withdrawal, inability to find alternatives

11. Coping with stress • Social support • Adaptability of surrounding environment • Previous levels of mental health • Amount of stressors at a given period of time • 20-22% of individuals over 65 meet criteria for some form of mental disorder • 70-90% of those in nursing homes • 2.5% suffer serious psychological distress

12. Depression • Functional disorders most commonly found in elderly – anxiety disorders, simple phobias, mood disorders, depression (most frequent) • Disease and loss of loved one are triggers • Depression is treatable but few seek treatment • Over 55% of seniors believe depression is a normal part of aging

13. Symptoms of Depression • Persistent sad feeling • Sleep difficulties • Weight changes • Feeling slowed down • Excessive worries about health problems and finances • Frequent tearfulness • Feeling worthless or helpless • Pacing and fidgeting • Difficulty concentrating • Physical symptoms (i.e. GI or pain)

14. Preventing or Treating Depression • Grief counseling • Prepare for major life changes • Having someone to talk to • Staying connected with family • Being physically fit • Balanced diet • Support groups • Therapy • Medication

15. Suicide (Major consequence of depression) • Older individuals more likely to die by suicide • Compose 13% of population • Accounted for 16% of suicides in 2004 • White Males over 85 – 59 per 100,000 compared to • Total Population 10.9 per 100,000 • Signs of thoughts of suicide • Changes in sleeping or eating patterns • Giving things away • Disregard for previously cherished persons or items • Comments (i.e. “I’d be better off dead”)

16. Substance Abuse • “Substance misuse/abuse by older adults in our culture goes under-estimated, under-identified, under-diagnosed and under-treated” • Heightened vulnerability • Alcohol abuse is a major problem – is often used to cope with losses during aging • Over the counter meds and meds that do not mix well with others