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Chapter 8: Problem 10

Analyze the effects and significance of changes in family patterns in middle adulthood. For many parents, a major midlife transition is the departure of children who are going to college, getting married, joining the military, or taking a job far from home. Even people who become parents at relatively late ages are likely to face this transition, because the middle adulthood spans nearly a quarter century. As we saw in Kathy and Bob's story, a child's departure can be wrenching - so much so, in fact, that it has been labeled the "empty nest syndrome." The empty nest syndrome refers to the unhappiness, worry, loneliness, and depression some parents feel when their children leave home (Lauer \& Lauer, 1999 ; Erickson, Martinengo, \&c Hill, 2010 ). Many parents report that major adjustments are required. For women who were stay-at-home mothers, the loss can be quite pronounced. Traditional homemakers, who focus significant time and energy on their children, face a challenging time. Although the loss can be difficult, parents also find that some aspects of this transition are quite positive. Even mothers who have stayed at home find they have time for other interests, such as community or recreational activities, when the children leave. They may also enjoy the opportunity to get a job or return to school. Finally, many women find that motherhood is not easy; surveys show that most people regard motherhood as harder than it used to be. Such women may now feel liberated from a difficult set of responsibilities (Heubusch, 1997; Morfei et al., 2004; Chen, Yang, \&c Dale Aagard, 2012).

Short Answer

Expert verified
The changes in family patterns during middle adulthood, such as the 'empty nest syndrome', can have a significant impact. While initially challenging due to a perceived sense of loss, many parents manage to find positive aspects in this transition, such as pursuing personal interests, taking up job opportunities, or returning to education. It's a complex transition period requiring significant emotional adjustment, but often resulting in personal growth and self-discovery.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the Empty Nest Syndrome

The term 'empty nest syndrome' refers to the feelings of unhappiness, loneliness, worry, and depression experienced by some parents when their children leave home. This can include children going to college, getting married, joining the military, or taking up a job far from home.
02

Identifying the Effects

The effects of 'empty nest syndrome' are felt more intensely by stay-at-home mothers, as they often devote significant time and energy towards raising their children. This departure from home can thus represent a major loss, requiring significant adjustments on their part.
03

Analyzing the Adjustments

To handle this transition, many parents are required to make significant lifestyle changes. Losing the responsibility of immediate childcare can be a challenging time as it can result in a substantial empty space in their daily routine. This adjustment period is a crucial part individuals transitioning into this midlife phase.
04

Discussing the Positive Aspects

Despite the initial challenges, the transition can also have positive effects. The newfound free time can allow parents to pursue other interests such as community or recreational activities. They may also take up job opportunities or return to school. Some parents, specifically women, may feel liberated from the demanding responsibilities of motherhood.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In normative-crisis models, people pass through agerelated stages of development; life events models focus on how people change in response to various life events. Erikson characterizes midlife as a time spent either in generativity or stagnation. Vaillant, Gould, and Levinson offer alternatives to Erikson's views. Levinson argues that the transition to middle age can lead to a midlife crisis, but there is little evidence for this in the majority of people.

Analyze changes in the nature and use of intelligence in middle adulthood. The question of whether intelligence declines in middle adulthood is complicated by limitations in cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies. Intelligence appears to be divided into components, some of which decline, whereas others hold steady or even improve. In general, cognitive competence in middle adulthood holds fairly steady despite declines in some areas of intellectual functioning. Many people develop strategies to optimize their intellectual performance as they age, often concentrating on particular skill areas to make up for declines in other areas, a process called selective optimization with compensation. Expertise the skill or knowledge acquired in a particular area-develops as people devote attention and practice to a subject or skill and, in so doing, gain experience.

Describe causes and characteristics of family violence in the United States. Domestic violence is epidemic in the United States, occurring in one-fourth of all marriages. More than half the women who were murdered in one recent 10 -year period were murdered by a partner. Between 21 percent and 34 percent of women will be slapped, kicked, beaten, choked, or threat- Figure \(8-11\) Violent Victimization by Victim- partner. In fact, continuing, severe violence characterizes close souace Truman s Morgan, 2014. to 15 percent of all marriages in the United States. In addition, many women are victims of psychological abuse, such as verbal or emotional abuse. Domestic violence is also a worldwide problem. Estimates suggest that one in three women around the globe experience violent victimization during their lives (Walker, 1999 ; Garcia-Moreno et al., \(2005 ;\) also see Figure \(8-11\) ). In the United States, no segment of society is immune from spousal abuse. Violence occurs across social strata, races, ethnic groups, and religions. Both gay and straight partnerships can be abusive. It also occurs across genders: Although in most instances, the husband is the abuser, in about 8 percent of the cases wives physically abuse their husbands (Harway, 2000; Cameron, \(2003 ;\) Dixon \& Browne, 2003 ). Certain factors increase the likelihood of abuse. Spousal "Includes current or former spouses, boyfrerids, and girlfriends. abuse is more apt to occur in large families for whom both bindudes parents, children, and siblings.

Describe how people experience leisure time in middle adulthood. With the typical work week hovering between 35 and 40 hours - and becoming shorter for most people-most middle-aged adults have some 70 waking hours per week of leisure time (Kacapyr, 1997 ). What do they do with it? For one thing, they watch television. Middle-aged people average around 15 hours of television each week. But adults do much more with their leisure time. For many people, midlife offers a renewed opportunity to take up activities outside the home. As children leave, parents have substantial time to participate in leisure activities like sports or participate in town committees. Middle-aged adults in the United States spend about 6 hours each week socializing (Robinson \&c Godbey, 1997 Lindstrom et al., 2005). A significant number of people find leisure so alluring that they take early retirement. For early retirees who have adequate financial resources to last the remainder of their years, life can be quite gratifying. Early retirees tend to be in good health, and they may take up a variety of new activities (Cliff, 1991 ; Jopp \& Hertzog, 2010 ). Although midlife offers the opportunity for more leisure, most people report that the pace of their lives does not seem slower. Much of their free time is scattered throughout the week in 15 - and 30 -minute chunks as they pursue a variety of activities. Thus, despite a documented increase of 5 hours of weekly leisure time since 1965 , many people feel they have no more free time than they did previously (Robinson \& Godbey, 19977 One reason why extra leisure time seems to evaporate is that the pace of life in the United States is considerably faster than in many countries. By measuring the length of time average pedestrians cover 60 feet, the time it takes to purchase a stamp, and the accuracy of public clocks, research has compared the tempo of living in a variety of countries. According to a composite of these measures, the United States has a quicker tempo than many other countries, particularly Latin American, Asian, Middle Eastern, and African countries. But, many countries outpace the United States. Western European countries and Japan move more quickly than the United States, with Switzerland ranking first (Levine, \(1997 \mathrm{a}, 1997 \mathrm{~b}\) ).

Describe how aging affects memory and how memory can be improved. Memory may appear to decline in middle age, but, in fact, long-term memory deficits are probably as a result of ineffective strategies of storage and retrieval. People categorize and interpret new information according to the schemas they have developed about how the world is organized and operates. Mnemonics help people organize material in ways that improve recall. These formal strategies include getting organized, visualizing, rehearsing paying attention, and using the encoding specificity phenomenon.
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