Adult Development
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Adult Development
Midlife Crisis
A midlife crisis test can be taken by anyone between ages 40 and 59 who feels uncomfortable with their current situation in life. They feel that they may need some change, but they are not sure whether that would constitute a midlife crisis. They take midlife crisis tests just to be sure. Before the test, there is some information on the link that 60% of people between ages 40 and 59 experience a midlife crisis.
People between ages 40 and 59 are usually in the prime of their lives. They look at their lives and wonder whether they are where they wanted to be when they were young. They wonder if there is something that they would have done differently. If there is, they go ahead and do it.
A random Google search of the phrase, “Am I having a midlife crisis?” reveals that most people do not know what a midlife crisis is. They do not know what signs to look out for to determine whether they are experiencing a midlife crisis. Some people seem to confuse it with depression. It seems that men and women experience a midlife crisis differently. There are search results for a midlife crisis in men and midlife crisis in women.
People from Asian cultures also experience midlife crisis. However, little research has been done on midlife crisis in Asian cultures.
Middle-aged people may feel the need to explore new things and change various aspects of their lives. It is not fair to describe that process as experiencing a midlife crisis. That process can be best described as reinventing oneself. Reinvention entails changing something to make it new and making abrupt changes in life.
People experience a midlife crisis across all genders. There is no prevalence in one gender than the other (Manger, 2016).
The Sandwich Generation
The sandwich generation is a popular term used to describe people between the ages of 40 and 50 who take care of their parents and their adult children at the same time. It can be really hard for someone to take care of their parents and their children at the same time. Their parents may require special care and attention, which may be costly. Their adult children, who in most cases are students who don’t work, may need primary care from basic needs to education. All this becomes a burden. The number of people who would be described as the sandwich generation is surprisingly high. 73% of adults aged between 40 and 50 say that they take care of at least one adult child. 75% of adults in the same age bracket say that they take care of at least one elderly parent. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted young people a lot, especially through loss of employment. Such people now have to depend on their parents. This becomes a burden to middle-aged people who were already taking care of their parents. In some cultures, young adults complete their education early and get employed early enough. They then stop depending on their parents. In such cultures, the sandwich generation is smaller because young adults stop depending on their parents early enough (Parker & Patten, 2013).
Longitudinal Study
The Seattle Longitudinal Study will help us understand how adults develop and change throughout adulthood.
In the site, there are publications belonging to K. Warner Schaie, a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of Washington. The publications include 74 books and monographs between 1958 and 2013, 21 dissertations and thesis between 1973 and 2008, papers and presentation, and book chapters and journal articles. He has published lots of works in his career spanning 53 years. His counterpart, Sherry L. Willis, had also written publications that include books and monograms, dissertations and thesis, papers and presentation, and book chapters and journal articles. In the researcher section of the website, there are measures outlined. They include the Seattle Longitudinal Study measurement battery, the cognitive ability battery, cognitive ability battery factors, measures of self-reported change, measures of everyday problem solving, measures of cognitive style, descriptions of health status, descriptions of the subjective environment, and personality traits and attitudes. In the participants’ section of the website, there are resources on aging. There are additional links that provide information on aging, Alzheimer’s Disease, and the Seattle Longitudinal Study.
There is an article by K. Warner Schaie and Sherry L. Willis titled, Mind Alert: Functioning in Adulthood. The article discusses the Seattle Longitudinal Study, developmental influences on intellectual functioning, generational effects, early detection of dementia, and intervention studies of mental fitness.
The use of a cohort-sequential longitudinal study design in research on adult development has its own advantages. The researcher is able to examine changes within different individuals over time. Time of measurement is the term used to refer to the set of pressures upon the individual generated by the socio-environmental context at the point data is collected. In a cohort study, subjects are known to have a clean bill of health toward the beginning of the exposure time frame when they are exposed. In a case control study, one begins with infected and non-sick individuals and afterward ascertains their earlier exposure. This is an appropriate way of dealing with setting up prior exposures. While a cohort study can be applied to conduct research on normal exposures, it can be applied in analyzing the impacts of rare or strange exposures, on the grounds that the specialists can make it a highlight recognize a sufficient number of subjects who have an irregular exposure. Cohort studies, particularly forthcoming partner contemplates, reduce the probability that results may be biased by choosing subjects for the cohort group who might be pretty much prone to have the result of interest, in light of the fact that in a cohort study, the result isn’t known at gauge when exposure status is set up. With time, a determination predisposition can happen in a cohort study.
Cohort consequential study also has its disadvantages. The researcher may need to follow up on many subjects for a long period of time. The follow-up process can be costly and tiresome. They are bad for rare infections and illnesses with a long dormancy period (University of Washington Medicine – Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, n.d.).
References
Manger, W. (2016, May 1). Are You Having a Midlife Crisis? Take Our Quiz and Find Out. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from Mirror: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/you-having-mid-life-crisis-7865759
Parker, K., & Patten, E. (2013, January 30). The Sandwich Generation: Rising Financial Burdens for Middle-Aged Americans. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/01/30/the-sandwich-generation/
University of Washington Medicine – Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved from Seattle Longitudinal Study: https://sls.psychiatry.uw.edu/
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