MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

AGES 40-64

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS

Helping one’s children make the transition from home life to the outside worldAchieving mastery in one’s careerAdjusting to physical changesMaking decisions on how to spend “second adulthood”Coping with one’s aging parents

ERIK ERIKSON

Generativity vs. StagnationGenerativity: ability to create, originate and produce; adds meaning to the lives of adults and helps them maintain and enhance their self-esteemStagnation: lack of advancement which can lead to feelings of emptiness and meaninglessness

MID-LIFE CRISIS

Turning point experienced by middle-aged people where they realized that life may be half over and they feel trapped in meaningless roles

Middlescence: period of searching for a new identity that in some ways resembles adolescence

Middle-aged Women

Empty-Nest Syndrome: some mothers feel lonely and depressed when their children leave home

Menopause Decrease of estrogen and progesterone No longer produce eggs that can be fertilized Skin becomes elastic Loss in bone density