Chapter Thirteen: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE

DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
ADULTHOOD
Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 1

I. PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING
• Optimum physical and cognitive functioning is
achieved in the 20s and 30s
• Young adulthood is the period of life when
individuals’ developmental pathways begin to
diverge significantly

A. Primary & Secondary Aging
• Primary aging: age-related physical changes that have a
biological basis and are universally shared and inevitable
• Secondary aging: age-related changes that are due to

social and environmental influences, poor health habits,
or disease
• A minority of Canadian 20- to 34-year-olds die from

disease; the majority of deaths are caused by
unintentional injuries or suicide
Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. (continued) 13 - 3

Primary & Secondary Aging (continued)
• There are income-status differences in health, but it isn’t
just that the rich are healthier and live longer than the
poor; rather, the degree of socioeconomic inequality of a
country is related to the overall health of its citizens
• Prosperous nations with high levels of social inequality

experience poorer overall health than less wealthy but
more egalitarian societies
• Biological embedding: social circumstances in the first few

years of a child’s life can cause epigenetic modifications in
the brain and body systems that determine the
trajectory—for better or worse—of a person’s health
through adulthood
Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. (continued) 13 - 4
• The factors associated with secondary aging can be
viewed in relation to an individual, and with respect to a
population
• The population approach looks at the health indicators
that influence populations as a whole
• The health status of populations can be measured by
looking at aggregate health indicators that measure
quality of life, such as
– Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY),
– Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE) and
– Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY)

B. The Brain & Nervous System
• No matter what age an individual is, new synapses are
forming, myelinization is occurring, and old connections
are dying off
• The brain continues to mature throughout early
adulthood:
– A major spurt in the frontal lobes begins in
preadolescence and continues into early adulthood (may
be associated with increases in the capacity for formal
operational thinking and other kinds of abstract
reasoning)
– Another peak in brain development that is believed to
happen affects the cognitive skill of response inhibition,
which involves our ability to carefully weigh all of our
options. This may depend on the ability of the frontal
lobes of the brain to regulate the limbic system
– Limbic system: the part of the brain that regulates
emotional responses
C. Other Body Systems
• Declines in Physical Functioning
– While elite athletes notice the declines that start
in the mid-20s, non-athletes will not notice
declines until middle age
– In early adulthood, almost everyone has ample
physical capacity to meet the physical demands
encountered in everyday life
(continued)
C. Other Body Systems
(continued)
C. Other Body Systems (continued)
(continued)
Other Body Systems (continued)
• Heart and Lungs
– Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max): a measure of
the body’s ability to take in and transport oxygen
to various body organs
– Exercise capability declines ~ 1% per year
beginning between 35 and 40
• Strength and Speed
– Strength is at its peak in the 20s and 30s and then
declines steadily
(continued)
• Reproductive Capacity
– The risk of miscarriage and other complications of
pregnancy is higher for a woman in her 30s than in
her 20s
– Fertility is at its highest in late teens and early 20s,
and drops steadily thereafter
– Men’s reproductive capacity declines far more
slowly, and healthy men are able to father children
throughout their lives
– Women may begin ovulating intermittently as soon
as the early 30s
(continued)
• Immune System Functioning
– The two key organs in the immune system are the
thymus gland and the bone marrow—they create two
types of cells:
• T cells defend against essential internal threats, such as
transplanted tissue, cancer cells, and viruses that live within
the body's cells
• B cells fight against external threats by producing antibodies
against such disease organisms as viruses or bacteria
– The thymus gland is largest in adolescence and declines
dramatically thereafter in both size and mass,
increasing the susceptibility to disease
– Over a period of years and many stresses, the immune
system may become less and less efficient
II. HEALTH PROMOTION AND
WELLNESS
• Early adulthood is a relatively healthy period of

life, but risky behaviours—having multiple sex
partners or substance abuse, for example—
along with generally poor health habits, can be
problematic

A. Sexually Transmitted Infections
• Most sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including
chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, and HIV—
are more common among young adults than in any other
age group
• New cases of STIs have been increasing, especially for
chlamydia
• HIV is on the rise in homosexuals, heterosexuals, females,
and Aboriginals
• More than 71 300 Canadians now live with HIV and/or
AIDS, of which almost 17 000 are women.
• Three-quarters of the new HIV infections in women are
due to heterosexual contact (~76%), while the remainder
is attributable to injectable drug use
Number of New HIV Infections

B. Health Habits & Personal Factors
• Health Habits
– The Alameda County Study in California found that
in every age group, those with poorer health habits
had a higher risk of mortality
– Five health practices were identified: getting
physical exercise, not smoking, drinking, over- or
under-eating, and getting regular sleep
– Healthy lifestyle choices of early adulthood have
cumulative effects
(continued)
Health Habits and Personal Factors
(continued)
• Social Support
– Adults with adequate social support have a lower
risk of disease, death, and depression than do
adults with weaker social networks or less
supportive relationships
• A Sense of Control
– Those who are high in self-efficacy are more likely
to follow medical advice with regard to health
problems such as chronic headaches
– Locus of control also contributes to health
– Optimists show larger benefits from medication
than pessimists do
C. Intimate Partner Abuse
• Prevalence:
– Intimate partner violence is one of the most common
forms of violence against women both in Canada and
globally
– The rates of violence against women vary significantly
across Canada, but overall roughly 8 in 10 victims of
police-reported intimate partner violence are women
– Both men and women are at higher risk of violence
from dating partners than spouses
– Gay, lesbian or bisexual Canadians are roughly three
times as likely to be victims of spousal violence
– 25% of Aboriginal women and 13% of Aboriginal men
have been assaulted by their spouse
(continued)
Victims of police-reported intimate
partner violence

Intimate Partner Abuse (continued)
• Causes of Partner Abuse
– Cultural attitudes contribute to rates of abuse
Characteristics of abusers: Characteristics of victims:
• Tendency toward irrational • More likely to have been
jealousy abused as children
• Need for dependency in the • Young women (16 to 24)
partner and control in a • Alcohol or drug users
relationship
• Sudden mood swings
• Quick temper
• Aggressive men
• High school drop-outs
• Frequent unemployment
• Alcohol or drug users
(continued)
• Effects of Abuse on Individuals
– They often react by being upset, confused,
frustrated, and angry and may develop feelings of
fear, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem
– Some become so despondent that they consider
or attempt suicide as an escape
– Employment and productivity on the job may also
suffer
– Witnessing abuse affects children’s development
(continued)
• Prevention:
– Vigorous law enforcement can help
– Training programs for law enforcement officials and
hospital emergency room personnel that teach them to
recognize signs of abuse are essential to prevention
– Provide victims with problem-solving skills and
temporary shelters that may prevent re-victimization
– Community-wide and school-based approaches that
seek to educate the public about intimate partner abuse
and to change attitudes about the acceptability of
violence in intimate relationships, so that abuse will not
happen in the first place
D. Sexual Assault
• Canadian law prescribes three levels of sexual
assault:
– Level 1: sexual assault (e.g., kissing, touching, oral
or anal sex, intercourse or other forms of
penetration)
– Level 2: sexual assault with a weapon or resulting
in bodily harm
– Level 3: aggravated sexual assault (e.g., wounding,
maiming, disfiguring or endangering the life of the
victim)
(continued)
Sexual Assault (continued)
• Prevalence:
• Of those aged 15 and older, women are far more
likely than men to be sexually assaulted,
accounting for ~92% of reported sexual offence
cases in Canada
• The rates of police-reported sexual offences
peaked during the 1990s and then declined in
Canada
• Most sexual violence occurs within the context of
established social or romantic relationships; one-
quarter of all sexual assaults are committed by
strangers
(continued)
Sexual Assault (continued)
• Effects
– Psychological effects of being a victim of sexual
violence include the development of sexual
dysfunctions and post-traumatic stress disorder
– The psychological effects may persist more than a
decade in many victims
– Date rape is one particularly troubling type of
sexual violence among young adults
• Men’s belief that “no means yes” may contribute
• Many cases are premeditated and involve the use of
alcohol and drugs
– Prevention of sexual violence often involves
training potential victims to avoid situations in
which such episodes are likely to occur
E. Mental Health Problems
• The risk of virtually every kind of emotional
disturbance is higher in early adulthood than in
middle age
• Causes of Mental Disorders
– Early adulthood is the period during which adults have both
the highest expectations and the highest level of both role
conflict and role strain
– Mental disorders are believed to result from an interaction
of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors
• Mental disorders tend to run in families
• Increasingly, disturbances in specific brain function have
been found
(continued)
Mental Health Problems (continued)
• Anxiety and Mood Disorders
– The most common mental disorders are those
that are associated with intense or prolonged fear
and anxiety
– Anxiety disorders include phobias, generalized
anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder,
and panic disorder
– Problems associated with moods are the next
most common type of mental difficulty
(depression is the most frequent of these
disorders)
(continued)
• Alcohol and Substance Disorders
– Alcohol abuse and drug addiction peak in the
years between 18 and 40
– For the age group 20-24, 53% of male drinkers and
23% of female drinkers were considered to be
regular heavy drinkers
– Binge drinking, common among post-secondary
school students, is associated with a variety of
problem behaviours, including substantially higher
rates of unprotected sex, physical injury, driving
while intoxicated, and trouble with the police
Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc.
(continued)
13 - 29
• Personality disorders:
– Occasionally the stresses of young adulthood (likely
combined with some type of biological factor) lead
to serious disturbances in cognitive, emotional and
social functioning that are not easily treated
– To be diagnosed with any of the disorders in Table
13.3, a young adult has to have been exhibiting the
behaviour since mid- or late adolescence, and the
person should demonstrate the behaviour
consistently, across all kinds of situations
– Some of these disorders improve, but most remain
problematic for life
Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc.
(continued)
13 - 30
Personality Disorders

• Schizophrenia
– Affects 1% of Canadians
– A serious mental disorder characterized by
disturbances of thought such as confused
thinking, delusions and hallucinations
– Disturbances of thought may interfere with
normal function
– Hospitalization may be necessary
– New medications help many to cope
III. COGNITIVE CHANGES
• Like most aspects of physical functioning,
intellectual processes are at their peak in early
adulthood
• The intellectual peak lasts longer than many
early researchers had thought, and the rate of
decline is quite slow
• Current research makes it clear that the rate
and pattern of cognitive decline varies
widely—differences appear to be caused by a
variety of environmental and lifestyle factors,
as well as by heredity
A. Formal Operations & Beyond
• Piaget’s formal operational stage emerges in mid- to late
adolescence, but some theorists dispute Piaget’s
hypothesis that this is the final stage of cognitive
development
• Postformal thought: types of thinking that are associated
with a hypothesized fifth stage of cognitive development
– Relativism: the idea that some propositions cannot be
adequately described as either true or false
– Dialectical thought: a form of thought involving recognition and
acceptance of paradox and uncertainty
– Reflective judgement: the ability to identify the underlying
assumptions of differing perspectives on controversial issues

B. Intelligence and Memory
• IQ scores remain quite stable across middle childhood,
adolescence, and early adulthood
• Crystallized intelligence depends heavily on education
and experience. It consists of the set of skills and bits of
knowledge that every adult learns as part of growing up
in any given culture
• Fluid intelligence involves more "basic" abilities that
depend on the efficient functioning of the central
nervous system and less on specific experience
• Research suggests that adults maintain crystallized
intelligence throughout early and middle adulthood, but
fluid intelligence declines fairly steadily over adulthood,
starting at perhaps age 35 or 40
IV. POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION
• In today’s high-tech, global economy, post-secondary
education—any formal educational experience that
follows high school—has become a necessity for
virtually everyone
• The number of students enrolled in some level of
post-secondary education in Canada has been on the
rise
• A higher proportion of highly-educated immigrants
and recessionary labour markets also encourage
young adults to further their studies

A. Developmental Impact
• Canada has the world’s highest proportion of adult
college (24%) and university (26%) graduates combined
(51%)
• Notably, for the first time, more Canadian women than
men 25 to 34 years of age now possess a bachelor’s
degree (62%) or a master’s degree (54%)
• But fewer women than men have doctoral degrees (45%)
• People who succeed in completing a degree or diploma
have a clear income advantage, tend to have higher job
satisfaction and less unemployment
(continued)
Developmental Impact (continued)
• Longitudinal evidence suggests that the longer a
person remains in a post-secondary school, the better
her performance on Piaget’s formal operational tasks
and other measures of abstract reasoning
• During their years of post-secondary enrolment,
students' academic and vocational aspirations change,
as college- and university-level classes enable
students to make realistic assessments of their
academic abilities
• Advances in moral and social reasoning, as well as
increases in the capacity to empathize with others’
feelings, are also linked to college or university
attendance

Chapter Thirteen: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter Thirteen: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 1

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 2

• Secondary aging: age-related changes that are due to

• A minority of Canadian 20- to 34-year-olds die from

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. (continued) 13 - 3

• Prosperous nations with high levels of social inequality

• Biological embedding: social circumstances in the first few

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 6

• Early adulthood is a relatively healthy period of

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 14

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 16

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 20

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 31

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 34

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Canada Inc. 13 - 36

You might also like