Abstract
The report aims to discuss adult development by focusing on the normative and non-normative life events. Development occurs in context and is different from individual to individual, relying on aspects like someone’s ethnicity, nationality, gender, family, and biology. Development involves the physical, psychological, cognitive, and biological changes occurring in the entire life. The literature review focused on adult development, including young adulthood, middle-adulthood, and older adulthood. Emerging adults have a problem entering into adulthood due to relationships and social roles. Older adults have increased satisfaction in social relationships than emerging and young adults. The report also addresses coping with stress in adulthood and social support. Study shows that exposure to stressors differs with individual life context. Social connections, including social support and isolation, are said to be at risk of major depressive disorder. Two interviewees were talking about adult development, although one focused on social relationships and roles while the other focused on career development and satisfaction. However, they also touch on coping and normative and non-normative life events. I concluded that the interviews were a great way to learn about adult development, and there is a need for social support for adults living with mental problems.
Introduction
Development occurs in context and is different from individual to individual, relying on aspects like someone’s ethnicity, nationality, gender, family, and biology. There are normative and non-normative factors influencing adult development. Development involves the physical, psychological, cognitive, and biological changes occurring in the entire life. This report is about adult development topics to better understand coping with stress in adulthood, social and relationship roles, and cognitive development. Society expects adults to behave in a particular manner, and their roles also define them. The report includes an interview with adults concerning social roles. These interviewees also talk about coping with stress and the strategies they use. It also has a review of the literature about adult development.
Literature Review
Adolescents entering adulthood experience various difficulties related to different role transitions because of the switch between the dependence of childhood and adulthood and the roles normal for adults; family roles, managing a household, entrance to the job market, and completing education. People also experience the challenge of developing psychological maturity to aid them in operating as an adult in society. Psychological maturity has been described as the capability to work independently and the social role, like taking part in society’s well-being, social commitment, and associating well with other people. Emerging adults don’t seem to accept themselves as adults and ready to take on social roles.
Role transition acts as the chance to establish psychological maturity. For instance, early motherhood is related to social operation issues and in adopting other responsibilities in the career realm. However, parenthood is adults are more usually related to subsequent positive transformations in personality, particularly when parents can cope with the needs of parenthood. The study has shown that more mature personality growth levels define individuals who have stopped living with their parents and are managing on their own. Research has also demonstrated that vital growth sections in emerging adults, including psychosocial maturity and role transition, can lead to identity development. A study found that people at all three transition markets in family life are more likely to feel like adults, which are a vital feature of adult identity, than people without a single transition.
When it comes to social relationships, the study suggests that older adults have higher satisfaction levels with their social relations than younger adults. The study has also indicated that successively older adults recorded reduced social networks. The idea of people living alone has explained this; friends have died and living as a widow. Other scholars have found that social network size reduces with age. However, older adults have more satisfying interactions with their remaining network. They are also said to experience more positive emotions as they interact with social partners compared to younger adults. The elderly demonstrate increased satisfaction and reduced adverse experiences in their social interactions compared to emerging adults. Studies indicate that the elderly remember having increased intensity of positive emotions and reduced intense adverse emotions with their close social partners compared to young adults. Older adults also have been found to have improved quality ties with their children, closer friendship, more positive marriages, and an entire improved proportion of positive compared to younger adults. The elderly also demonstrate reduced problematic and ambivalent connections compared to young adults. The study has demonstrated that even when likely conflict comes up, older adults seem to see their emotions and those of their partners and behavior favorably. When having adverse exchanges with marital partners, older adults increasingly show positive emotions and affection compared to middle-aged adults.
Coping with Stress and Social Support
Another area of concern in research when it comes to adult development is stressors and coping with stress in adults, especially older adults. Exposure to stressors differs from individual life context. This exposure also differs according to age- adolescents, emerging adults, middle adulthood, and older adults. Studies demonstrate that the most frequent stressor in older adults involves work-related events, financial stressors, interpersonal and health events. It has been demonstrated that health-related events are more likely to arouse avoidance or emotionally focused techniques than other stressful events as well as reduced feelings of individual roles. On the other hand, work and interpersonal-related issues seem to arouse problem-solving and strategy coping responses.
Studies indicate that people facing more stressful life events are more likely to depend on avoidance coping responses like resignation, escapism, and selective ignoring. For instance, increased family interpersonal and family stressors are linked to increased avoidance coping among people suffering from cardiac disorders. On the other hand, studies show that people in reduced stressful contexts seem to acknowledge approach coping techniques like negotiation, looking for information, and cognitive restructuring. Adults who depend more on approach and less on avoidance coping are more likely to think that they deal with a situation better and gain some advantages for it. Adults who depend more on distancing, escapism, and other avoidance coping elements and less on reorganizing and solving the issue are more likely to face depression and distress. Research has also linked problem-solving to health-related results such as wishful thinking, distancing, and avoidance of worse outcomes. Avoidance coping in adults has also linked drinking issues among representative groups of different ages in adulthood.
Older adults are bound to experiencing increased losses in the context of reduced social resources and lower adequacy of social support in the frequency of contacts and subjectively thought support. Social connections, including social support and isolation, are said to be at risk of major depressive disorder. Social support is crucial in maintaining mental well-being and psychological health, especially in older adults. Social relationships are beneficial to the health of adults, no matter the life situation. However, some studies indicate that social relationships are vital only to people experiencing stressors like hardship over a long period and adverse life situations. Research also shows that poor social support adds to the mortality and risk of somatic health issues among older adults. It has also been demonstrated that somatic health issues pose an adverse impact on social support. Adverse impact on somatic health issues on social support shows that social support can be a mediator in the connection between psychological stressors and somatic disorders. Somatic health issues seem to decrease social support, which acts as a risk factor for the mental problem. Therefore, somatic problems raise the risk of mental health issues.
Methods
The research involved interviewing two respondents who set time for the interview. Before the interview, an email was sent to the identified participants and requesting them for an interview, and they agreed by responding to the email. After several phone conversations, we finally met for an interview session. The interview involved several questions, especially concerning a career in psychology and social roles and how they have changed over time. The interview was set up in a convenient place with minimum noise and disturbance. The materials used include writing material, a pen, and a recorder. The respondents were aged between 50 and 60 years. Some of the questions asked to include;
Are you aware of the gender roles prejudiced in society?
Do you believe in those prejudices yourself?
Do you think men are prejudiced in society concerning their roles?
What do you think your roles as a father define who you are in society?
Are there roles you play in your family that society won’t expect a man to be playing?
Results
The purpose of the interview was to understand adult development better as it relates to social relationships and social roles. The questions involved in the interview concerns roles that define adults and gender. The interviewee was between 50 and 60 years of age and was from New York. He had lived in the United States all his life although he visits various countries during the holiday. He is a social worker with ideas about social roles and adult development, including how older adults cope with stress. The respondent answered questions about the interview about social roles by explaining that he is aware of an adult’s social roles and social expectations. He talked about defined roles according to gender and how society expects adults to take up those roles. These roles define adults and getting married means taking up social responsibility in developing a better society. For instance, Mr. X stated that “I am aware of the social roles defined in the society and that society expects us to behave or to take part as adults and as a man. Although things have changed, society still has defined roles for adults and especially as a parent.” He talked of stressors he ever experienced related to social relationships, and he said that he had faced insults ad isolation in life, but he managed to overcome the situation. He also has some stress in his family concerning his elderly mom, and they sometimes try to give her social support.
Discussion
This report has revealed various things about adult development as read in the course material. One of the major ideas involves stress and coping and social relationships and roles. It also involves stressors and normative and non-normative events. Some of the common stressors are health-related. However, there are also financial stressors. Young adults differ in dealing with and coping with stress from older adults. The literature review has shown that lack f social support and somatic health issues are linked to psychological stressors. Older people may need social support in dealing with stress, but they cope better than young adults.
In the interview, the respondents talked about how they deal with stress, and as research suggests, older adults manage stress better than young adults. The two interviewees have strategies for coping with stress. They also manage to control their negative emotions when they argue with their partners. However, they differ in their coping strategies. Their stressors also differ, and while one talks about health-related stressors, the other one talks about social relationships.
The two interviewees also have similar non-normative life events that have affected their lives. Both have experienced the loss of a loved one, which considerably changed their lives because of the depression they had to deal with. They have both experienced normative events, especially as it relates to society. The practices earlier unacceptable to society are now acceptable. These changes have greatly changed their thinking and perception of such events and situations.
In conclusion, the interviews were a great way to learn about adult development. The two interviews offered an opportunity to question someone directly, like conducting research and analyzing results. I am a great move. They offered a better understanding of social relationships and roles, and identity as an adult. Social support is necessary for adults, especially those living with mental issues. It is also necessary to prepare emerging adults for adult life and train them to accept and cope with adult roles and responsibilities.