interest in developmental psych: paradigm shift in 1970s, today lifespan psych = major field of research

proportion of middle to older addults in the population is increasing

middle adulthood - 40-45 older adulthood = 60+, young old = 60 - 80, old old = 80 - 90, very old = 90+

by 2050 the global population ver 60 yrs is expected to reach 22% - 2.1 billion people, in 2015 it was at 12%

number of centenarian in CH increased 3.2% from 2021 to 2022, general population increase was 0.9% in same time

Aging = any (positive or negative) change in the adaptive capacity of the organism

development: sequential, directed and involve long-term change in the experience and behaviour er the entire lifespan

Objective: mentally and physically capable, mental and physical health, social integration

Subjective: high life satisfaction and positive attitude toward ones own age

dev. varies considerably between behavioural domains as well as withing the same behavioural domain

may be increase, constancy or decrease in skills or characteristics over the same time period, not strictly linear

intrapersonal variability in development, many possibilities for developmental outcomes, implied neural basis

plasticity involves the changeability of abilities of brain structure and functions

impact on all people living at a certain time, gradual historical changes, abrupt historical changes

can occur in different historical and lifespan periods periods and only affect individuals:: biological factors, changes in the environment, personal behaviour

microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem

discontinuous: is the view that develoopment takes place in specific phases and stages. changes are sudden

ageism: the presence of attitudes,, beliefs, feelings and behavioiur toward people based on their old age

negative prototypes: jokes about old people, negative stereotypes

perception of old age can differ depending on having contact with old people

some older adults will default to age as an explanation for behaviouors similarly observed in younger age groups: e.g. senior moments

health = generally indexed based on the presence and severity of disease, ailments and psychiatric conditions

protective factors = social, emotional and behavioural skills that decrease the impact of health risks and promote risilience

resilience = ability to bounce back following rejection, challenges and adversity

mental health = can be broadly defined as a state of wellbeing that enables coping, learning, working, realising abilities and more

cognitive component: satisfaction with life, domain satisfaction

top down: subjective wellbeing = from personality -- wellbeing should remain stable

bottom up: wellbeing = from life circumstances -- decrease through age because gain-loss ratio

BUT Paradox of subjective wellbeing - tends to decrease despite bottom up / top down saying stable or decrease

studies show different patterns,, moost = U curve, terminal decline = 3 to 5 years before death

emotional and cognitive factors are unique, limit to happiness in relation to financial status even through high income can buy increased satisfaction with life

strong association between dispositional gratitude and subjective wellbeing in a meta analysis with a moderating factor of age

subtle differences by age in positive and negative affect, relationships between these constructs consistent across adult age groups

examining subconstructs of positive and negative affect revealed age differences in a cross sectional study of the PANAs psychometrics in younger vs older adults

among adult, rates of depression and anxiety tend to decrease with age

people strive for consistency and freedom from contradicitions within themselves

Assimilative strategies: increased effort and self control, rigid pursuit of goals

Accomodative Strategies: adaptation of goals, reinterpretation of expectations and abilities

decrease in assimilative and increase in accomodative strategies over lifespan

Number of goals stays stable, number of conflict of goals decreaases