Psychosocial Development

There is no doubt about it that life is full of stress and although stress affects people of all ages, it is where middle adulthood is a time of both stability and change (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). Stress and health is understood through a dominant framework used to study stress - the stress and coping paradigm, which emphasizes the transactions between the individual and the environment. Coping refers to our attempt to deal with stress (Sigelman & Rider, 2014). In addition, the Association of Qualitative Research (2013) stated, “it is suggested that different psychological tasks have been undertaken as the individual matures, and transitions between life stages can be times of crisis” (p. 1). The types of experiences or situations individuals’

There are many significant developmental events during this time, such as changes in developing expertise in well-exercised areas, reproductive capacity, and family role transitions (Sigelman & Rider, 2014). According to Erik Erikson (cited in Sacco, 2013), the seventh stage of psychosocial development finds a mature adult dealing with the challenge of generativity versus stagnation. For most people in our society and unique cultures, this phase is between 30 and 70, whereas 40 to 60 as its core (Clay, 2003). Generativity is the need to guide the next generation, as well as working to keep the society safe and prosperous. This can be accomplished through either applying this drive to the individual’s own children or by feeling responsible for the society (Sacco, 2013). Adults would feel a need to present their own knowledge and teach the younger generations. Stagnation may occur when an individual focuses internally on oneself and rejecting a higher sense of contribution to the culture or tradition (Karcher & Benne, 2007). This is a stage of a “midlife crisis”, however not everyone goes through a midlife crisis as it depends on the personality type and history of crisis that are believed to predispose some people to a “traditional” midlife crisis (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). Adults going through this

This includes genes, nutrition, hormones and more. The biological forces is concerned with the body and how it develops (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2014). In this case, for middle-aged women during and after menopause, the body will continue to be affected by this force. Menopause occurs in women in the 40s or early 50s, and physical changes may affect sexual response. Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is a type of treatment for menopausal symptoms (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). During middle age typical physical symptoms such as wrinkles, grey hair, and weight gain will appear. Chronic stress suppresses the immune system, increased risk of atherosclerosis, hypertension, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sexual dysfunction or decline, cardiovascular disease, leads to impaired memory and cognition and so forth. However, these effects may depend on one’s life event and socioeconomic status (SES) (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2015). There are various types of behavioral interventions for stress reduction of the biological forces. One treatment would be the use of aerobic exercises that has been proven to slow psychological aging, reduce psychological stress, and improve cardiovascular health and overall fitness (Kail & Cavanaugh,