Examined by in-depth interviews lived experience of aging in 32 community dwelling adults aged 50 to 80. Identified 5 categories of coping activities. Findings suggest that individuals who believe they are coping successfully see aging as positive life experience, despite acknowledgment of negative changes in themselves and people close to them.…

In-depth interviews were used to investigate how life is experienced by persons at age 85 (N=129) and again at 92 (N=41). Seven patterns of adjustment ranging from self-realization to withdrawal emerged, and heterogeneity remained at follow-up with some changes in the characteristics of the categories and in coping strategies. (Author/EMK)

There is a common perception that stresses tend to increase and accumulate with age, but there have been no definitive studies of differences in perceived life stress among different age groups. To study these differences, a quasi-random sample of 215 adults completed a 41 item life-stressor questionnaire, modified from the Paykel (1971) and…

This paper describes a program providing support, education, and skill-building within a self-help format for the children of aged parents. The selection of the 18 initial program members, each with relatives living either in their homes, in a nearby location, or in nursing homes is reviewed. The 90-minute group sessions which met weekly for 8…

A basic tenet of this paper is that the concept of crisis and crisis management has developed as a central issue within the fields of community psychiatry, psychology, and mental health, but that little systematic attention has been devoted to a particular subgroup at risk, i.e., older persons. Both theoretical background and clinical implications…

The 14 chapters of this textbook chronicle adult development from youth through old age, emphasizing both research and interviews with adults at various stages in their lives. Topics covered include the following: (1) the academic field of adult development; (2) theories and research methods; (3) aging and disease prevention; (4) sexuality and…

This encyclopedia contains 106 articles on adult development that were written by more than 75 specialists in such diverse fields as anthropology, communication, education, health sciences, history, and psychology. In a guide to related topics that is presented at the beginning of the encyclopedia, the 106 articles are grouped under the following…