Week 1: Introduction to Lifespan Theories of Health and Wellbeing

Question 1

How do we test our assumptions?

Answer 1

We all have our assumptions about the underlying causes of development: Nature vs nurture; active vs reactive; stability vs change; continuity vs discontinuity; universal vs context-specific (i.e., individual differences).

-Some theories emphasise one over the other and others emphasise both.

Question 2

What is Lifespan Development?

Answer 2

-A consistent feature of developmental psychology has been the study of stability and change across the lifespan.

-Historically developmental psychology has focused on childhood and old age with relatively less on young adulthood and midlife (i.e., is understudied).

-Adulthood is seen as a period of psychological stability (psychologists believe not much happens so what’s the point of studying this area of age).

-Research typically examines health using age-specific cross-sectional studies (in the moment) rather than age-comparison or longitudinal designs (i.e., within-subjects)

However, development is a lifelong process:
-We cannot understand adult experiences without appreciating what came before in childhood and adolescence (Baltes & Graf, 1996).
-Transitions (changes) define and shape the life course of each person (Miller, 2010) e.g., taken then single, sudden unemployment etc.,

Question 3

What is the lifespan perspective?

Answer 3

-‘Everything is developmental’ (Skinner et al., 2019)

-Lifespan psychology is an orientation rather than a theory.

The lifespan perspective aims to understand:
-How individuals change and develop throughout their lives (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2011).
-The factors influencing change, include biological, social, psychological, historical, and geographic factors (Hendricks, 2012).

The life-span perspective divides human development into two phases:
1. Early phase (childhood and adolescence, e.g. PSYC130): characterised by rapid age-related changes in people’s size and abilities e.g., language and cognitive development.
2. Later phase (young adulthood, middle age and old age, PSYC230): characterised by slower changes, but abilities continue to develop as people continue adapting to the environment (Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006) e.g., educational transitions to dementia.

Question 4

What do Lifespan Transitions represent?

Answer 4

-Lifespan transitions represent a range of psychological processes and movements.

Four forms (Zittoun, 2006):
1. Change in the cultural context (e.g. religiosity, faith)
2. Change of, or within, a person’s sphere of experience (e.g. having a baby)
3. Change in the relationships and interactions with objects and others (e.g. new romantic partner)
4. Change from within a person (e.g. chronic pain or illness)
Altogether a ring of experiences which cannot be disentangled.

-These different forms are not mutually exclusive.

-Some theorists view lifespan transitions as stressful; so-called ‘life stressors’ (Miller, 2010), but pathologising lifespan overlooks positive change e.g., protective factors.

Question 5

Baltes’ (1987) key propositions of lifespan perspectives: What is Lifespan Development?

Answer 5

Development is a lifelong process.

Question 6

Baltes’ (1987) key propositions of lifespan perspectives: What is Multidirectionality?

Answer 6

Development is multidimensional and can proceed in multiple directions (i.e., it’s not linear and fixed universally).

Question 7

Baltes’ (1987) key propositions of lifespan perspectives: What are Gains and Losses?

Answer 7

Development at every age involves both gains and losses. Losses can include cognitive decline where the more a person can compensate for this, the better the outcome.

Question 8

Baltes’ (1987) key propositions of lifespan perspectives: What is Plasticity?

Answer 8

Psychological development is ‘plastic’ and malleable.

Question 9

Baltes’ (1987) key propositions of lifespan perspectives: What is Historical embeddedness?

Answer 9

Development is shaped by history and culture.

Question 10

Baltes’ (1987) key propositions of lifespan perspectives: What is Contextualism?

Answer 10

Development is influenced by interactions among contexts. Different identity roles e.g., a teacher, then a son, then a father etc.,

Question 11

Baltes’ (1987) key propositions of lifespan perspectives: What is Multidisciplinary?

Answer 11

Requires researchers from across natural and social sciences (different expertise needed).

Question 12

How has age and health been viewed as static and dynamic?

Answer 12

-Life-span transitions elicit individual differences in health and wellbeing.

-Yet Psychology was slow to adopt a lifespan framework for studying health and illness (Whitman et al., 1999).

-Historically, health psychology viewed age as a static variable and took cross-sectional snapshots of health rather than a videotape that captures the ‘rich dynamics of change’ (Peterson, 1996).

Both health and age are dynamic:
-Ageing brings profound biological, cognitive, socioemotional, behavioural and environmental changes.
-A growing body of research examines how these changes, both normatively and abnormally, influence patterns of health and wellbeing.

Question 13

What questions are generated when health and well-being are viewed from a lifespan perspective?

Answer 13

How do patterns of health and well-being vary across the lifespan?

For example:
-Why do I eat and drink more at Christmas than at other times of the year?
-Why do some new mothers develop postnatal depression whereas others don’t?

Question 14

What are the direct relationships regarding age, time and health?

Answer 14

This includes consideration of individual differences in biological, psychological and social characteristics (differences in those resources and protective factors).

Question 15

What are the indirect relationships regarding age, time and health?

Answer 15

Factors that determine health status across the lifespan, although sometimes similar, can also differ considerably depending on a person’s developmental status.

Question 16

What are the Individual differences in health and well-being?

Answer 16

The mediating relationship between multidimensional risk factors, health status and age.

Question 17

Which 4 interactive forces shape development throughout the life course, and what does this consist of? (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2015)

Answer 17

1. Biological forces: Genetic and health-related factors.
2. Psychological forces: Internal perceptual (how we perceive the world), cognitive (reasoning and executive functions), emotional and personality factors.
3. Sociocultural forces: Interpersonal (relationships), societal (government, COVID, Climate change), cultural, and ethnic factors provide context.
4. Life-cycle forces: Past experiences determine biological, psychological and sociocultural forces.

Question 18

How does adopting a biopsychosocial framework organise these interactive forces?

Answer 18

-Each of us is the product of a unique combination of these forces.

-Expands our theoretical understanding of lifespan development from a purely psychological context to a model in which many different factors contribute to health and well-being (Miller, 2009).

Question 19

Lifespan theories can be grouped into which 2 key approaches?

Answer 19

1. Person-centred approach:
   Stage theories (certain steps we have to go through in a certain order and time sequence) e.g. Erikson (1958), Peck (1968) also Freud!
2. Function-centred approach (how does it work holistically as a mechanism/contextually?) e.g., Bronfenbrenner (1979), Baltes (1987), Sameroff (2010).

Question 20

Person-centred approach: What are Erikson’s (1958) psychosocial stages of development?

Answer 20

-Each stage of a person’s life requires the resolution of an ‘issue’ as part of that person’s ego development.

-Each stage consists of a crisis/conflict with alternative possibilities wherein the individual may move forward, backwards or remain stuck.

-Successful development: sameness and continuity between the self and the outer world.

-Maladjustment: break in the continuity of development, such as moving backwards or becoming stuck,

The way each person resolves these issues results in the acquisition of a ‘virtue’; an ego strength or special quality.

Question 21

What’s involved in Erikson’s (1958) infancy stage of development? (birth to 2 years)

Answer 21

Ego development outcome:
-Trust vs mistrust (conflict)
Basic strength: drive and hope (outcome of overcoming conflict)

Outcome:
Trust is developed through reliable caregiving and affection. Mistrust develops when care is erratic and affection absent. Important event: feeding (window of how we trust/mistrust people)

Question 22

What’s involved in Erikson’s (1958) early childhood stage of development? (2-3 years)

Answer 22

Ego development outcome:
-Autonomy vs shame and doubt
Basic strength: self-control, courage, willpower

Outcome:
Children begin to exercise a sense of control over their physical skills and independence begins to develop. Success leads to feelings of autonomy, failure leads to shame and doubt. Important event: toilet training

Question 23

What’s involved in Erikson’s (1958) pre-school stage of development? (3-5 years)

Answer 23

Ego development outcome:
-Initiative vs guilt
Basic strength: purpose

Outcome:
Children need to develop a sense of power and control over their environment to achieve a sense of purpose. Too much power however leads to the child experiencing disapproval and results in a sense of guilt. Important event: exploration

Question 24

What’s involved in Erikson’s (1958) school-age stage of development? (6-11 years)

Answer 24

Ego development outcome:
-Industry vs inferiority
Basic Strength: Method and Competence

Outcome:
At this stage, children are experiencing new social and educational demands. If they are successful at coping in this stage they develop a sense of competence whereas failure leads to a sense of inferiority. Important event: School

Question 25

What’s involved in Erikson’s (1958) adolescent stage of development? (12-18 years)

Answer 25

Ego development outcome:
-Identity vs role confusion
Basic strength: devotion and fidelity

Outcome:
Teenagers need to develop a sense of self and identity. Success at this stage leads to an ability to stay true to oneself. Failure leads to a weak sense of oneself and role confusion. Important event: social relationships

Question 26

What’s involved in Erikson’s (1958) young adulthood stage of development? (18-40 years)

Answer 26

Ego development outcome:
-Intimacy vs isolation
Basic strength: affiliation and love

Outcome:
The ability to form strong, loving, intimate relationships is formulated. Isolation and distance may occur if individuals fail at this stage. Important event: relationships

Question 27

What’s involved in Erikson’s (1958) middle adulthood stage of development? (40-65 years)

Answer 27

Ego development outcome:
-Generativity vs stagnation
Basic strength: production and care

Outcome:
The adult is occupied with the desire to create and achieve something meaningful. This includes a nurturing role perhaps in a family or society. Issues of family and being in charge, as well as the perpetuation of one’s culture and values, occur often. Failure at this level can result in shallow involvement in the world. Important event: working and parenting

Question 28

What’s involved in Erikson’s (1958) maturity stage of development? (65 years-death)

Answer 28

Ego development outcome:
-Integrity vs despair
Basic strength: wisdom

Outcome:
Success at this stage is important for helping older adults reflect back on their lives with a sense of fulfilment, feelings of wisdom and a deep sense that life has meaning. Failure may lead to bitterness and feelings of despair. Important event: reflection on life

Question 29

What are the 2 advantages of Erikson’s Theory?

Answer 29

1. Erikson’s (1958) theory was one of the first to explicitly recognise that psychological development continued throughout life.
2. Important emphasis on the relationship between the individual and society in affecting personal development (we move away from solely individual things).

Question 30

What are the 3 disadvantages of Erikson’s Theory?

Answer 30

1. Most developmental change is seen as occurring in early life.
2. Characterises later life in very narrow terms; a period of relative stability, where the primary concern is coming to terms with death and dying.
3. The latter two stages (40+) are supposed to represent all of the psychological crises and crisis resolutions of the last 40-45 years of life (Peck, 1968). I.e., categories are broader and less nuanced with older age.

-Also doesn’t account for socioeconomic status, age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity etc., (i.e., is not specific to the individual).

Question 31

Person-Centred Approach: What were Peck’s (1968) stages of psychological development in the second half of life?

Answer 31

-Subdivided middle and old age into additional sub-stages to attempt to characterise the crises in more detail.
Middle age – 4 crises
Old age – 3 crises

-In doing this, Peck (1968) characterised later life more positively, as a time for growth.

Question 32

Middle age (40-65 years) ego stage categories: What is Peck’s Valuing wisdom vs. valuing physical powers category?

Answer 32

The need to come to terms with a loss of physical strength and stamina, and attractiveness. At the same time, we experience gains in judgement and wisdom.

Question 33

Middle age (40-65 years) ego stage categories: What is Peck’s Socialising vs. sexualising category?

Answer 33

The need to redefine individuals in terms of their personality/companionship rather than potential sexual partners.

Question 34

Middle age (40-65 years) ego stage categories: What is Peck’s Cathectic flexibility vs. cathectic impoverishment category?

Answer 34

Children may be leaving home and the parent-child relationship is redefined. The ability to form new emotional bonds is important, particularly with young and old.

Question 35

Middle age (40-65 years) ego stage categories: What is Peck’s Mental flexibility vs. mental rigidity category?

Answer 35

The ability to take stock of past experience while maintaining a flexible and open attitude to life is valued over rigid adherence to rules and being ‘set in their ways’.

Question 36

Old age (65 years onwards) ego stage categories: What is Peck’s Ego differentiation vs. work role preoccupation category?

Answer 36

Older adults may be unable to accept their retired status or role as breadwinners. To resolve they must engage in a range of valued activities to help redefine themselves.

Question 37

Old age (65 years onwards) ego stage categories: What is Peck’s Body transcendence vs. body preoccupation category?

Answer 37

The need to cope psychologically with increased physical pain and vulnerability and enjoy life through social relationships and mental activity rather than becoming increasingly preoccupied with physical deterioration.

Question 38

Old age (65 years onwards) ego stage categories: What is Peck’s Ego transcendence vs. ego preoccupation category?

Answer 38

Coming to terms with own death. Resolve by unselfishly contributing to one’s own legacy through children, friendships and cultural contributions, so that one can die knowing that one’s contribution to society will continue.

Question 39

What do the defining characteristics of stage theories suggest that development is?

Answer 39

1. Sequential (like instructions in a recipe book)
2. Unidirectional (One-way)
3. Contains an end-state (endpoint e.g., enlightenment/actualisation)
4. Irreversible (you can’t unknow what you know)
5. Structural in transformation (structurally determined)
6. Universal

Question 40

Stage theories have been criticised on what 3 following grounds?

Answer 40

1. Normalising patterns of development (problematic)
2. Age-related focus on development
3. Culture, context and history (It is neglected)

Question 41

Why is normalising patterns of development an issue?

Answer 41

-Stage theories are based on the premise that each stage is experienced universally, in the same way in all individuals.

-Human development shows relative plasticity, so there is no single or ideal developmental pathway for any one person.

-Presents problems to those who sit outside the parameters of what any given society considers ‘normal’. (normal was just meant to state the averageness of something)

Question 42

Why is age-related focus on development an issue?

Answer 42

-Stage theories view developmental change as related to chronological age (system of measuring how long someone has been alive since birth) but there can be fit 80 year olds and unfit 30 year olds (is there a meaningful difference between a 50 and 65 year old?)

-Individuals progress in very different ways; regression or stability is not always a bad thing!

Question 43

Why can culture, context and history be an issue?

Answer 43

The universal nature of change undermines the role of culture, context, person-environment interaction and individual, community and generational histories.

Question 44

What do life course theories acknowledge?

Answer 44

-By the mid-20th Century, life course theory was becoming increasingly popular.

-Life course theories acknowledge the full social context of the individual and thereby offer a more fully informed account of influences on development and reflect our global and culturally diverse society.

Question 45

What is Developmental Contextualism?

Answer 45

-Development doesn’t occur in isolation, it is affected by the context of a person’s life (e.g., interactions and identity)

-Internal influences on development such as biology and psychology interact with external influences such as their cultural context and interpersonal relationships.

Question 46

What is Dynamic Interactionism?

Answer 46

-If one of the variables influencing development changes, this can cause changes in other variables at the same or a different level (e.g., health condition may cause psychological changes such as withdrawal from others)

-It is not possible to separate biology and psychology of a person from the environment in which they live.

Question 47

What did Bronfenbrenner (1979) say regarding a Function centred approach to lifespan development?

Answer 47

“Much of developmental psychology, as it now exists, is the science of the strange behaviour of children in strange situations with strange adults for the briefest possible periods of time”

-Scathing criticism with cross-sectional research

Question 48

What was Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory?

Answer 48

-The developing individual is always in interaction with an evolving environment.

-The ecological environment is a ‘nest’ of interactive structures or settings placed within each other (like russian dolls):

Microsystem (innermost level):
Where the individual is at a particular moment in time, e.g. at home, work.

Mesosystem:
Interaction between different microsystems, e.g. success at work may be influenced by home situation (direct relationship between microsystems).

Exosystem:
An external environment that influences an individual even if they are not physically present within that environment, e.g. parent’s promotion at work may improve the quality of life for their child(ren).

Macrosystem (outermost level):
Beliefs, attitudes and traditions within a given culture that influence the individual, e.g. Western individualism vs. Eastern collectivism.

-How much control does an individual have? e.g., politics i.e., are we passive?

Question 49

What is Baltes’ (1987) Selection, Optimisation with Compensation model?

Answer 49

-Lifespan development consists of dynamic interactions between growth (gains, e.g. new job) and decline (losses, e.g. health).

A person’s internal and external resources are finite. As we age:
-We must devote more resources to maintain function and compensate for biological losses.
-Resources are replenished less often and drawn upon more exhaustively.

The SOC model posits that the following three fundamental processes are essential for successful development (aging successfully):
1. Selection: Selecting functional domains on which to focus one’s limited resources

2. Optimization: Maximising gains
3. Compensation: Compensating for losses

-These processes ensure the maintenance of functioning and minimisation of losses throughout the life course.

Question 50

What was Carpentieri et al’s (2017) study relating to Baltes’ (1987) Selection, Optimisation with Compensation model?

Answer 50

-Examined the way that older people talk about their use of selection, optimisation and compensation in the context of physical decline.

-The authors found that older people who engaged in high levels of SOC talk had high well-being despite low physical function. Those who engaged in little SOC talk had low well-being despite higher physical function.

Selection: “I don’t do ladder work now. I think there was a year when I felt my wrists weren’t strong enough to deal with the ladder, you know, and I just said, ‘Right, that’s it.’ I stopped”. (good self-awareness)

Optimization: Colin had recently begun “making myself go to the gymnasium every day” in an effort to improve his physical and mental fitness.

Compensation: “After the first [hip] operation I wasn’t allowed to bend, so I’d sweep the kitchen floor and then I’d have to get [HUSBAND] to come in and put it into a dustpan… And I got one of the long-handled dustpans and brushes…and it’s been fabulous”.

Question 51

What is Sameroff’s (2010) Integrative Model of Development?

Answer 51

The biopsychosocial ecological system:
-Based on Bronfenbrenner’s model of nested systems, but adds the biological and psychological ‘twin’ nature of the individual at the centre of the various social systems.

-The individual is a biopsychological self-regulating system composed of biological and psychological parts.

-The self-regulating individual is embedded in, and influenced by, social systems, including: parents; family; friends; community; and geopolitical environment.

Question 52

What is an Interim summary of the lifespan theories?

Answer 52

In summary, adult development is characterised by:
-Growth and decline in abilities at all stages of life.

-Individual plasticity, where developmental courses are influenced by personal environment and experience.

-Adult development is varied and complex and cannot be understood through the scope of a single theoretical approach.

Development results from a wide variety of forces:
BIOlogical, PSYCHOlogical, SOCIAL and life-cycle forces (Baltes, 1987).

Question 53

What are some critiques of the lifespan approach?

Answer 53

There are two key critiques of the lifespan approach to health and wellbeing (Skinner et al., 2019):

1. The notion that ‘everything is developmental’
   -Lifespan approach has claimed the territory of all of psychology
   -Could this be diluting our in-depth understanding of development, health and wellbeing?
2. Over emphasis on context
   -Lifespan approach assumes that the individual is a passive agent
   -What is the role of the individual in actively dictating what environments must provide? (i.e., the assumption life is happening to us when we have an active role)

Question 54

What makes a ‘good’ lifespan theory? (Can use this in exam to evaluate theories)

Answer 54

Hendricks (2012) outlines the following four principles for evaluating life course perspectives:

1. Does the model recognise our ties to others?
   -We are all connected to others through a web of social relationships
2. Are relevant dimensions of time part of the framework?
   -Influence of historical time or context on life experiences.
3. Is place or location addressed?
   -Where we live, geographically and socially, affects how life is experienced.
4. What about personal agency?
   Individuals are actively involved in inputting meaning and shaping outcomes.