Child vs. Adult Development Quiz

Child Development vs. Adult Physical Health Development

• Developmentalists study child development by examining improvements and increases.
• Developmentalists study adult physical functioning by focusing on loss of function or decline.

Primary Aging

• Universal, biological processes contributing to age-related physical changes.
• Examples include grey hair, wrinkles, and reduced vision.

Secondary Aging

• Influenced by social, environmental, and behavioral factors resulting in health disparities.
• Age-related changes due to lifestyle choices, disease, and social/ environmental factors

Health Status of Populations

• Measured by indicators assessing quality of life, like Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE).

Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)

• Average years lived in good health.
• Population-based measure, not individual-specific.
• Values change over time.

Life Expectancy and Inequality

• Socioeconomic status is a powerful predictor of life expectancy in Canada and the US (e.g., ZIP code).
• Income disparities impact life expectancy significantly. At age 25, the average difference in HALE between high and low income groups was 14.1 years for men and 9.5 years for women.

Social Determinants of Health

• Adverse living conditions, lifestyle choices, and non-medical treatments significantly impact health outcomes.
• Social determinants account for 75% of health outcomes.

Biological Embedding

• Early-life social circumstances can lead to epigenetic modifications in the brain and body, shaping future health trajectories.

Environmental Impact on Health

• Factors like food deserts, healthcare access, social/community context, neighborhood environment, and economic stability.

Brain and Nervous System in Early Adulthood (General)

• Brain size stabilizes in late teens/early 20s.
• Brain functions become localized.
• Frontal lobe development continues.
• Formal operational thinking capacity increases.

Grey and White Matter

• Grey matter: unmyelinated cell bodies and axons.
• White matter: myelinated axons.
• Adulthood: stabilization of grey and white matter; maturation of the prefrontal cortex last.
• Late adulthood: decline in grey matter density and white matter growth, impacting brain efficiency.

Brain and Nervous System in Early Adulthood (Emotional)

• Frontal lobes develop capacity to regulate the limbic system (emotions).
• Improved response inhibition for emotion regulation.

Body Systems in Early Adulthood

• Gradual decline in physical function occurs throughout adulthood, primarily due to natural biological processes (primary aging).

Immune System Functioning in Early Adulthood

• Thymus and bone marrow produce B cells and T cells.
• Thymus size and mass decrease, increasing susceptibility to disease after adolescence.
• Immune system efficiency may decline over time.

Thymus Gland & Bone Marrow

• Thymus: critical for immune function, large in adolescence, shrinks by 45-50.
• Bone marrow: produces B and immature T cells.

B Cells

• Fight external threats (viruses, bacteria) by producing antibodies.

T Cells

• Defend against internal threats (transplanted tissue, cancer, internal viruses).
• T cell numbers and efficiency decline most with age.

Gut Microbiota

• Influences reflexes, senses, digestion, and interacts with the brain.
• Linked to neuropsychiatric and physical disorders.
• Factors affecting microbiota include genetics, diet, stress, and environment.

Heart and Lungs in Early Adulthood

• Exercise capacity declines ~1% per year after 35-40.
• Age-related changes in function mostly occur during & after exercise.
• Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) important measure of aerobic capacity.
• This declines gradually post 35-40 years.

Reproductive Capacity (Early Adulthood)

• Fertility peaks in late teens/early twenties.
• Ovulation can become intermittent in 30s for women.
• Sperm production declines more slowly, typically allowing for child rearing later in life

Health Habits (Early Adulthood)

• Poor health habits linked to higher mortality risk.
• Five good habits: exercise, avoid smoking/excess drinking/poor nutrition/insufficient sleep.
• Healthy habits in early adulthood can have significant lifetime impacts

Social Support (Early Adulthood)

• Strong social networks associated with lower disease risk, death, and depression.

Sense of Control (Early Adulthood)

• Internal locus of control (control over health).
• External locus of control (outside forces/fate determine health).
• Optimists may benefit more from treatments than pessimists.
• Sense of control is also influenced by SES.

Five Most Common Personality Disorders in Young Adults

• Antisocial (disregard for others).
• Borderline (instability in relationships).
• Histrionic (attention-seeking).
• Narcissistic (need for admiration).
• Obsessive-Compulsive (perfectionism, control).

Crystallized Intelligence

• Knowledge and skills accumulated through learning and experience.
• Generally remains stable or improves throughout adulthood.
• Examples: vocabulary, reading comprehension, job skills.

Fluid Intelligence

• Ability to solve novel problems, reason abstractly, and think quickly.
• Decreases gradually from mid-30s/early 40s due to cognitive/neurological efficiency decline.
• Examples: solving puzzles, identifying patterns, performing memory tasks.

Theoretical Perspectives

• Erikson (Intimacy vs. Isolation).
• Levinson (Life Structure).
• Arnett (Emerging Adulthood).

Erikson: Intimacy vs. Isolation

• Young adults establish intimate relationships or face social isolation.

Intimacy

• Capacity for supportive, affectionate relationships without losing one's sense of self.

Important Characteristics of Erickson Stages

• Partners share freely without fearing relationship ends.
• Independence without threat to partner feelings.
• Successful identity development is crucial for healthy intimacy.

Levinson: Life Structure

• Individual's roles, relationships, conflicts, and their balance.
• Cycles of stability and instability.

Levinson's Phases

• Novice phase
• Mid-era phase
• Culmination phase

Arnett: Emerging Adulthood

• Period between late teens/early 20s.
• Cultural variations exist.
• Adulthood attainment often viewed later (~25 in Canada/US).

Evolutionary Theories of Partner Selection

• Focus on parental investment theory.
• Different goals for partners between men and women are driven by differing investment levels in children.
• These theories are sometimes used to justify misogynistic views.

Evolutionary Theorists

• Mate preferences shaped by natural selection.
• Women prioritize providers; genetic, not cultural.

Social Role Theory

• Gender differences are social adaptations, more than innate.

Evolutionary Perspective's Limitations

• Ignores social, cultural influences on gender/relationships.
• Confuses gender differences with innate sex differences.

Factors Impacting Marriage Quality

• Personality traits.
• Conflict management strategies.
• Communication.
• Attachment styles.

Personality Traits

• Shyness often linked to poor communication skills.
• Extraversion may contribute to mutual relationship satisfaction.

Conflict Management

• Studies focus on communication / engagement.
• Gottman's "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, Stonewalling).

Communication

• Vital for respect, trust, conflict resolution, and satisfaction.

Personality Types in Communication

• Aggressive
• Passive
• Passive-Agressive
• Assertive

Role of Attachment

• Internal models of intimacy from childhood influence adult relationships.
• Not a direct link between parental and intimate partner attachment.

Parenthood

• Impacts psychological well-being (parental relationships, changes).
• Negative feelings are more common in females than males after having children.

Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation Model (VSA)

• Personal vulnerabilities (self-esteem, attachment) and external stressors influence relationships.

Postpartum Mental Health

• Impacts sense of self, family relationships, bonding.
• Can affect child development.
• Most experience mood instability, but it often dissipates.
• 15% experience more severe, prolonged difficulties.

Postnatal PTSD

• Roughly 6% of individuals diagnosed with PTSD after birth.
• ~33% experience a traumatic birth.
• Risk factors include lack of control, prior trauma, and poor quality provider interaction.

Adversity and Mental Health Problems

• Marginalized groups face higher rates of mental health difficulties (e.g., anxiety, depression in adults raised in poverty).
• Different mental health development trajectories exist across demographics

Resiliency

• Resiliency in one area may not translate to others.
• Positive psychological functioning may correlate with poor physiological wellbeing, particularly among marginalized youth.

Brain and Nervous System Development (Middle Adulthood)

• Brain volume declines (fastest around age 60).
• Prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus show faster shrinkage.
• Cerebral cortex thins.
• "Last in, first out" theory of aging (brain areas mature later are affected first.
• Association fibres show the steepest functional decline.

Neuronal Development (Middle Adulthood)

• Neuron size shrinkage and dendrite retraction.
• Myelin begins to deteriorate.
• Net loss in synapses impacts learning and memory.

White Matter Volume

• Essential for information exchange and communication between brain areas.

Grey Matter Volume

• Crucial for information processing in sensation, perception, movement, learning, and speech.

CSF Volume

• Protects and supports brain and spinal cord.
• Transports nutrients and hormones, removes waste.

Studies Comparing Middle-Aged to Early Adults (Cognitive)

• Middle-aged adults respond slower to tasks.
• Larger brain areas activated during cognitive tasks in middle-aged individuals.
• Brain becomes less strategic for tasks.

Denney's Model of Aging

• Physical/cognitive changes follow a typical curve.
• Unexercised abilities have lower peaks; exercised abilities maintain.

Baltes' Model of Selective Optimization with Compensation

• Balances gains and losses of aging.
• Optimize skills through practice/compensation for declines.
• Selection: Focus attention to improve task efficiency.

Crystallized Knowledge

• Increases with age; accumulated knowledge and facts.

Fluid Knowledge

• Decreases as we age; ability to solve new problems.

Semantic Memory

• Long-term knowledge (facts, general knowledge).

Episodic Memory

• Memory of personal experiences.

Menopause

• Cessation of menstruation in middle adulthood.

Perimenopause

• Transition into menopause (40s; sometimes 30s).
• Estrogen/progesterone levels fluctuate.
• Irregular menstrual cycles.

Postmenopausal Phase

• One year or more without a menstrual period.

Osteoporosis

• Calcium loss in bones, begins ~30, accelerates at menopause due to hormonal changes.
• Increased fracture risk, especially in women starting around 50.