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Theories of Aging
Objectives
❏ Differentiate the different theories of
aging
❏ Appraise the application of such
theories of ageing
❏ Utilize the theories of aging as guide
in care of older persons
Theories of Aging
● Attempt to explain the phenomenon
of aging as it occurs over the lifespan
○ Aging is viewed as a total
process that begins at
conception
○ Senescence: a change in the
behavior of an organism with
age leading to a decreased
power of survival and
adjustment
○ A guide for developing a
holistic gerontologic nursing
theory for practice
application
Theories of Aging: Types
● Biologic
● Sociologic
● Psychologic
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● Moral/spiritual
Biological Theories
● Concerned with answering basic
questions regarding the physiological
processes that occur in all living
organisms as they chronologically
age
Foci of Biological Theories
● Explanations of
○ Deleterious effects leading to
decreasing function of the
organism
○ Gradually occurring
age-related changes that are
progressive over time
○ Intrinsic changes that can
affect all member of a species
because of chronologic age
ALSO
● All organs in any one organism do
not age at the same rate
● Any single organ does not
necessarily age at the same rate in
difference individuals of the same
species
Biological Theories: Divisions
● Stochastic: explain aging as events
that occur randomly and accumulate
over time
● Nonstochastic: view aging as certain
predetermined, timed phenomena
Stochastic Theories
● Error theory
● Free radical theory
● Cross-linkage theory
● Wear and tear theory
Error Theory
● Originally proposed in 1963
● As a cell ages, various changes occur
naturally in its DNA and RNA, the
building blocks of the cell
Basis:
1. Errors can occur in the transcription
in any step of the protein synthesis of
DNA, and this eventually leads to
either the aging or the actual death of
a cell
2. Error causes the reproduction of an
enzyme or protein that is not an
exact copy
3. As transcription errors to occur, the
end product would not even

resemble the original cell, thereby
compromising its functional ability
*This theory has not been supported by
research
Free Radical Theory
● Free radicals are byproducts of
metabolism--can increase as a result
of environmental pollutants
● When they accumulate, they damage
the cell membrane, decreasing its
efficiency resulting in increased
permeability. If excessive fluid is
either lost or gained, the internal
homeostasis is disrupted and cell
death may result
● In animal studies, administration of
antioxidants postpones the
appearance of diseases such as
cardiovascular disease and CA
● Free radicals are also implicated in
the development of plaques
associated with alzheimer’s
Cross-Linkage Theory
● Some proteins in the body become
cross-linked, thereby not allowing
for normal metabolic activities
● Waste products accumulate
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● Result: tissues do not function at
optimal efficiency
● Some research supports a
combination of exercise and dietary
restrictions in helping to inhibit the
cross-linkage process
Wear & Tear Theory
● Proposed first in 1882 by Weisman
● Cells simply wear out over time
because of continued use--rather like
a machine
● Reflects a belief that organs and
tissues have a preprogrammed
amount of available energy and wear
out when the allotted energy is
expended
● Eventually this leads to the death of
the entire organism
Nonstochastic Theories
1. Programmed Theory
2. Immunity Theory
Programmed (Hayflick Limit) Theory
● Based on lab experiments on fetal
fibroblastic cells and their
reproductive capabilities in 1961
● Cells can only reproduce themselves
a limited number of times
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● Life expectancies are seen as pre
programmed within a
species-specific range
Immunity Theory
● Immunosenescence: age-related
functional diminution of the immune
system
● Lower rate of T-lymphocyte (“killer
cells”) proliferation in response to a
stimulus
● Therefore, a decrease in the body’s
defense against foreign pathogens
● Change include a decrease in
humoral immune response, often
predisposing older adults to:
○ Decreased resistance to a
tumor cell challenge and the
development of cancer
○ Decreased ability to initiate
the immune process and
mobilize defenses in
aggressively attacking
pathogens
○ Increased susceptibility to
auto-immune diseases
Emerging Theories of Aging
● Neuroendocrine Control
(Pacemaker) Theory

● Metabolic Theory/Caloric
Restriction
● DNA-Related Research
Neuroendocrine Control/ Pacemaker
Theory
● “Examines the interrelated role of
the neurologic and endocrine system
over the life-span of an individual”
● There is a decline, or even cessation,
in many of the components of the
neuroendocrine system over the
lifespan
● Research has shown
○ The female reproductive
system is controlled by the
hypothalamus
○ Adrenal glands’ DHEA
(dehydroepiandrosterone)
hormone diminishes over the
lifetime of an individual
○ Melatonin (from pineal
gland)-- a regulator for
biologic rhythms and a
powerful antioxidant that
may enhance immune
function. Declines sharply
from just after puberty until
old age
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Metabolic Theory of Aging (Caloric
Restriction)
● “Proposes that all organisms have a
finite amount of metabolic lifetime
and that organisms with a higher
metabolic rate have a shorter lifespan
● Rodent-based research has
demonstrated that caloric restriction
increases the lifespan and delays the
onset of age-dependent diseases
DNA Related Research
● DNA plays in the aging process
● 2 major developments
○ Involves the process of
mapping or identification of
the human genome
■ There are maybe as
many as 200 genes
responsible for
controlling aging in
humans
○ Discovery of telomeres
(which are the regions at the
ends of chromosomes that
may function as biological
clocks)
■ This discovery
explains why normal
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cells have a limited
capacity to divide
■ Abnormal cells
produce an enzyme
called telomerase
Sociological Theories
● Focused on the roles and
relationships within which
individuals engage in later life
FOCUSES of Sociological considerations
of aging:
● 1960’s - focused on losses of old age
and adaptation to them
● 1970’s - broader global, societal, and
structural factors influencing lives of
Older Adults
● 1980’s-90’s - exploration of
interrelationships between Older
Adults and their physical, political,
environmental & socio economic
milieu in which they lived
Sociological Theories of Aging
● Disengagement Theory
● Activity/Developmental Task Theory
● Continuity Theory
● Age Stratification Theory
● Person-Environment Fit Theory

Disengagement Theory
● Cumming & Henry – 1961
● “Aging is an inevitable, mutual
withdrawal or disengagement,
resulting in decreased interaction
between the aging person and others
in the social system he belongs to”
Activity Theory (Developmental Task
Theory)
● Havighurst, Neugarten, Tobin ~ 1963
● “Activity is viewed by this theory as
necessary to maintain a person’s life
satisfaction and a positive
self-concept.”
● Theory based on assumptions:
○ It's better to be active than
inactive
○ It is better to be happy than
unhappy
○ An older individual is the
best judge of his or her own
success in achieving the first
two assumptions
Continuity Theory
● Proposes that how a person has been
throughout life is how that person
will continue through the remainder
of life
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● Old age is not a separate phase of
life, but rather a continuation and
thus an integral component
● As people age, they try to maintain
or continue previous habits,
preferences, commitments, values,
beliefs, and all the factors that
contributed to their personalities
Age Stratification Theory
● Riley-- 1985
● Society consists of groups of cohorts
that age collectively
● The people & roles in these cohors
changes & influence each other, as
does society at large
● The interaction between individual
aging people and the entire society is
not stagnant, but remains dynamic
Person-Environment Fit Theory
● Lawton, 1982
● Individuals have personal
competencies that assist in dealing
with the environment:
○ Ego strength
○ Level of motor skills
○ Individual biologic health
○ Cognitive &
sensory-perceptual capacities
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● As a person ages, there may be
changes in competencies & these
changes alter the ability to interrelate
with the environment
● As a person ages, the environment
becomes more threatening and he or
she may feel incompetent dealing
with it
Psychological Theories
● Influenced by both biology and
sociology; address how a person
responds to the tasks of his or her
age
● Provide an understanding of the
values and beliefs an older person
may possess
Psychological Theories of Aging
● Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human
Needs
● Jung’s Theory of Individualism
● Erikson’s Eight Stages of Life
● Selective Optimization with
Compensation
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs
● Maslow-- 1954

● “Each individual has an innate
internal hierarchy of needs that
motivates all human behaviors”
● Depicted as a pyramid; the ideal is to
achieve self-actualization, having
met all the “lower” level needs
successful”
● Satisfying and changing
relationships with other people; a
democratic character structure;
creativity; and a sense of values
● Only about 1% of the population are
truly ideal self-actualized persons
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○ 65-death (older adulthood):
ego integrity vs. despair
Jung’s Theory of Individualism
● Carl Jung– 1960
● Self-realization is the goal of
personality development
● According to this theory, a person’s
personality is visualized as oriented
either toward the external world
(extroversion) or toward subjective,
inner experiences (introversion)
Erikson’s Eight Stages of Life
● Stages throughout the life course.
Each represents a crisis to be
resolved ● Self-absorbed adults will be
● For OA’s: preoccupied with their personal
○ 40-65 (middle adulthood): well-being and material gains.
generativity vs. Preoccupation with self leads to
self-absorption or stagnation stagnation of life”

● Unsuccessful resolution of the last
crisis may result in a sense of despair
in which individuals view life as a
series of misfortunes,
disappointments, and failures
According to Freud…
● Psychosocial crisis could have a
positive or negative outcome for
personality development
(Psychoanalytic theory)
○ Each stage defined by a crisis
of challenge
● Selection: increasing restriction of
one’s life to fewer domains of
functioning because of an age-related
loss
● Optimization: people engage in
behaviors to enrich their lives
● Compensation: developing suitable,
alternative adaptations
Kohlberg’s Universal Ethical Principle
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Spirituality
● No longer merely denotes religious
affiliation; it synthesizes a person’s
contemplative experience. Illness, a
life crisis, or even the recognition
that our days on earth are limited
may cause a person to contemplate
spirituality

Peck’s expansion of Erikson’s theory

A. Ego differentiation vs. work role
preoccupation
B. Body transcendence vs. body
preoccupation
C. Ego transcendence vs. ego
preoccupation

Selective Optimization with

Compensation
● Baltes-- 1987
● Individuals develop strategies to
manage losses of function that occur
over time

3 Interacting Elements:

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