Week 6. Montante. Ch. 9 & 10 Early & Middle Adulthood

Week 6. Montante. Ch. 9 and 10 Early & Middle Adulthood

In Chapter 9 we explore early adulthood which is approximately 18 to 25. Some of the highlights in this chapter would be the physical development. In this life period physical changes slow down a lot and young adult are in peak condition. We realize that the lifestyle that we engage in play a big role in our health. The nutrition that we feed into our body are an important part for our development as in it influences heart disease and cancer which is two major health concerns. Even though we may think we are “fit” our nutrition intake tend to be unhealthy. The book gave an example such as the documented film Super Size Me. I personally remember watching that movie and not quite understanding much of it. At that time I was young and McDonalds was not something I ate as I grew older. Personally as I got older I decided to cut out soda to live a healthier lifestyle. It has been almost 8 years since I have not had a full can/ cup of soda. It was first hard to even eliminate it I started off by not drinking any dark soda, then moving on to not drinking light color soda to the point that I did not want soda at all. By age 17 I had completely stop drinking it all together. It was the best decision I ever made as far as a healthy lifestyle I wanted to live by. Another highlight is physical fitness. One main concern is finding the time to work out. Many adult have this problem because of responsibilities one has in life. I can understand why, but many corporations are providing the time and facilities for employees so they can add that into their daily workday. I think that is a positive thing they can do for others, however I have yet to know a corporation here that may offer a benefit like that. The use of alcohol is also heavy for young adults from 18-25 years. An example would be a couple of my friends (both girls and guys) added on weight because of the amount of alcohol they were consuming. Rates if binge alcohol use in 2008 were 33.7% among persons aged 18 to 20 and 46% among those aged 21 to 25 (Page 213).

Piaget argued that young adults generally possess more knowledge than adolescents, especially in specific areas of interest. This leads us into our cognitive development which young adults have more experience than adolescents since they are much older. Social development is also important during a young adult’s life. Erikson’s theory of intimacy vs isolation shows us the impact of these relationships on one’s self. He says by intimacy it means to be able to be close to others. You can be intimate as a lover, friend, or people in your society. The cause of having too much of it would be having fear of commitment and the tendency to become intimate too easily and freely. Isolation is the readiness people have to isolate or distance themselves from others when feelings threatened by their behavior. If one isolates from others it may develop hate towards their loneliness.

Another highlight from this chapter is the Dual- career family. Dural career family is when both husband and wife work usually full time. I found this interesting because I see this more than I see stay at home moms and the man will go to work. I found this interesting because most women are still considered responsible for the maintenance of the family. By that women tend to pick a job where it meets the need of her family and tend to work less hours than men. I find this to be very true in my own opinion. I say this because this is how my own family works. Both me and my boyfriend 9though we are not married) work full time, but I tend to work less hours of the week so I could be the one to care a bit more for our daughter. It is not something we had planned to work out in that way, but it happened and I did not analyzed it until reading this chapter of the patterns of work in young adults. Very interesting to say the least.

In chapter 10 leads into middle adulthood (45-65 years of age) the mean concern in this time period is the health. During this stage it is recommended that people start getting tested for serious conditions such as colon cancer and breast cancer and begin to prevent or reduce those risks. There is also visible signs of aging such as your skin tone, hair color, and the texture of the skin. Many people during these ages tend to ‘stop’ their appearance of aging by coloring their hair or getting Botox many of these treatments and other help some of these people deal with the obvious factors. This reminds me of my mom. She is in her early 50’s though many do not ever believe she is that old, but if she sees a white hair on her head she goes straight to the hair salon to get her hair colored. At first I never understood why color your entire hair if it is only one strand of hair, but as I got older I realized that your appearance at that age really does matter and should be understanding of my mom’s changes as she gets older. Another affect are health habits. One in particular is overweight is a big concern. Many older people do not have the same type of energy such exercise as they once did when they were younger. Obesity in middle age even without established cardiovascular disease risk factors such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels greatly increases risk of hospitalization and is linked to generally worse outcomes in many cancers, including breast and prostate cancer (sciencedaily.com 2009 page 234).  During this stage their cognitive abilities changes as well. According to Horn, crystallized intelligence increases throughout the lifespan, but fluid intelligence steadily declines from middle adulthood (page 239). Learning in middle adulthood can be enhanced through motivation, new learning experiences, and changes in educational systems.