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Chapter 14:

  Physical and Cognitive  Development in Early Adulthood

The Transition from Adolescence  to Adulthood

•         The transition to adulthood

–        Occurs in adolescence

–        Begins in biology and ends in culture

–        Is usually marked by full-time employment

–        Is marked by economic independence

–        Involves accepting responsibility and consequences for one’s behaviors and choices

–        Is influenced by self-perceptions

•         College graduates are increasingly returning to live with parents while seeking economic independence

•         Adult status in developing countries is often marked by marriage occurring much earlier than in the United States 

•         Personal and social assets linked to emerging adulthood sense of well-being

–        Intellectual skills

–        Psychological skills

–        Social skills 

•         Transition from high school to college

–        Has positive and negative aspects

–        Can be very stressful

•         Sources of stress can be

–        Academic (exams, grades, competition)

–        Personal (relationships, parental conflicts)

–        Economic (balancing work and school)

–        Psychological (emotional situations) 

•         There are many ways, good and bad, to cope 

•         An increasing number of people are seeking higher education, as the U.S. is a more educated country 

•         What makes college students happy?

Physical Development

•         Early adulthood

–        Average peak physical performance is between ages 19 and 26 (under 30) and this includes athletes

–        Usually during this time, people are healthiest

–        Most college students know what behaviors will  prevent illness and promote health

–        This is a time when most pleasures involve physical resources 

•         Gender and ethnicity are related to health behaviors and beliefs

•         Obesity in adulthood

–        Is a serious health problem for many

–        More than 60% in the U.S. are overweight

–        Determined by calculating BMI (calculate your own - http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm )

•         Many factors are related to obesity:

–        Heredity

–        Leptin – a protein affecting food intake

–        An individual’s metabolism

–        Environmental factors

–        Ethnicity and race

–        Gender

•         Dieting

–        As obesity rises, dieting is an obsession for many

–        Dieting is a $30 billion business annually in the United States

–        Weight lost is rarely kept off after diet ends

–        Dieting leads to weight loss but puts dieter at risk for other health problems

–        Fads include many types of foods and additives

•         Lack of exercise is a main cause of obesity

–        Some occupations provide vigorous exercise

–        Exercise has physical and psychological benefits

•         Substance abuse in young adulthood

–        Heavy binge drinking in college affects academic performance and personal life

–        Binge drinking increases risk of having unprotected sex

–        Use of alcohol and drugs lessens in the mid-twenties for most 

•         Globally, differences in alcohol use are affected by culture, religion, and gender

•         Alcoholism: a disorder that impairs one’s life

•         One in nine of those who drink becomes an alcoholic

•         Genetics and environmental factors are involved

•         By age 65, the “one-third rule” applies

•         Certain factors can predict a recovery

•         Various strategies exist for reducing alcohol use

•         Fewer people smoke today than in the past

•         More is known about the risks of smoking

•         Nicotine addiction prevents many from quitting

•         Health risks decrease when one quits smoking

•         Addiction

–        Strong dependency on alcohol, drugs, tobacco

–        Withdrawal symptoms affect physical functioning 

•         There are 2 ways of looking at addiction:

–        Disease model stresses biological influences

–        Life-process model stresses habitual behavior in relationships and with regard to one’s environment

Sexuality

•         Heterosexual orientation

–        Attitudes and behaviors define the majority of Americans’ sexual patterns

–        Most do not engage in "kinky" sex

–        Adultery is the exception, not the rule

–        Men think about sex more than women do

•         Lesbians’ and gay males’ attitudes and behaviors

–        More accepted today in American society

–        Early prenatal critical period may explain why sexual orientation is unchangeable

–        Many theories try to explain homosexual causes

•         Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

–        A variety of different diseases contracted primarily through sex

–        Affect about 1 of every 6 U.S. adults

–        AIDS has had a greater impact than any other

•         HIV destroys the body’s immune system

•         It is a global epidemic causing high death rates and fear; the greatest concerns are in Africa

•         U.S. deaths are declining

•         There are strategies to protect against AIDS

•         Sexual harassment and rape involve the use of power

•         Rape: sexual intercourse without consent

–        Definitions vary among U.S. states

–        Victims are often reluctant to report it

–        It occurs most frequently in large cities

–        Actual rates are unknown

–        Male social training is blamed for high rates in U.S., almost 200,000 rapes reported annually

•         Rape is a traumatic experience for victims and those close to them; recovery varies among victims

•         There is increasing concern about acquaintance or date rape

–        Coercive sex with a person known by the victim

–        Rates appear highest for adolescent and college freshman women

–        Strategies exist to reduce risks of date rape

•         Sexual harassment takes many forms in many settings

–        It involves use of power for sexual exploitation

–        More women than men are victims

–        Victims can suffer serious psychological damage

–        It is illegal and can be eliminated

Cognitive Development

•         Piaget: adolescents and adults think qualitatively in the same way – formal operational thought 

•         Others believe idealism decreases as young adults enter world of work and face constraints of reality 

•         Perry: as the young move into adulthood, dualistic/absolute thinking changes into reflective/relativistic thinking 

•         Some believe cognitive changes in young adults create a postformal stage of thought – qualitatively different from Piaget’s stage of formal operational thought

•         Creativity peaks in adulthood as evidenced by some existing great works in the arts and science 

•         Decline begins in the 50s but varies by domain and individual characteristics 

•         Creative people have been found to experience a heightened state of pleasure when engaging in absorbing mental and physical challenges 

•         A creative life includes cultivating one’s curiosity through a variety of behavioral strategies

Careers and Work 

•         Many developmental changes occur during work and career, including changes in one’s personality
and value system

•         Holland proposed 6 basic career-related personalities,  but people are more complex and varied than this

•         A more important aspect of choosing a career is matching it up with a diversity of important values

•         The Occupational Outlook Handbook, revised every two years, assists with monitoring new jobs and growth

•         Education is essential to getting a high-paying job

•         Work defines people in many fundamental ways, and most spend about 1/3 of their lives working full-time 

•         Work settings are linked to stress and health problems; and yet, inability to work for an extended period causes emotional stress and low self-esteem 

•         Most college students work 26 hours or more per week 

•         Colleges offer co-op and internship programs that provide work experiences in many occupational areas

•         Unemployment creates stress and increases feelings  of helplessness in both men and women, but intensity varies among individuals based on additional factors 

•         Dual-career couples make up the majority of workers in American society

–        Division of responsibility for family had changed

–        Social attitudes and values are changing 

•         Single-earner married families are the minority of workers in American society

•         The workplace has become more diversified