Integrating Health Policy Education Into an Undergraduate Adult Development and Aging Psychology Course

Abstract Active engagement in health policy by psychologists is vital to the well-being of the aging population; however, few feel prepared to engage in policy making or know how to get involved. A novel policy curriculum was developed and integrated into an undergraduate psychology course. N = 34 students completed assessments of policy knowledge and assignments designed to increase their skills, knowledge, and critical thinking about health policy. Students reported strong beliefs that psychological research can impact health policies and a desire to understand how to use research to inform policy; however, they reported less understanding of how policy is made. Preliminary evidence suggests students are interested in applying psychological research to policy processes; however, they do not know how to get involved. Policy education was easily integrated into the course, and further study is needed to determine students’ future engagement in health policy and change health policy skills.

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Personality's Correlates of Adult Development and Aging

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027//1016-9040.8.3.131 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 131-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Gian Vittorio Caprara ◽

Mariagiovanna Caprara ◽

Patrizia Steca

Keyword(s):

Personality Traits ◽

Adult Development ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Age Groups ◽

Well Being ◽

Efficacy Beliefs ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Education And Health ◽

Development And Aging ◽

And Gender

Three cross-sectional studies examined stability and change in personality over the course of life by measuring the relations linking age to personality traits, self-efficacy beliefs, values, and well-being in large samples of Italian male and female participants. In each study, relations between personality and age were examined across several age groups ranging from young adulthood to old age. In each study, personality constructs were first examined in terms of mean group differences accrued by age and gender and then in terms of their correlations with age across gender and age groups. Furthermore, personality-age correlations were also calculated, controlling for the demographic effects accrued by marital status, education, and health. Findings strongly indicated that personality functioning does not necessarily decline in the later years of life, and that decline is more pronounced in males than it is in females across several personality dimensions ranging from personality traits, such as emotional stability, to self-efficacy beliefs, such as efficacy in dealing with negative affect. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for personality theory and social policy.

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Generativity Development Across Adulthood: A Longitudinal Investigation

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1496 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 462-462

Author(s):

Niccole Nelson ◽

Cindy Bergeman

Keyword(s):

Adult Development ◽

Developmental Change ◽

Longitudinal Design ◽

Well Being ◽

Developmental Trajectory ◽

Cohort Effects ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Development And Aging ◽

Age Range ◽

Health And Well Being

Abstract The developmental trajectory of Generativity, or investment in the next generation, has been theorized about for decades. Although Generativity is widely hypothesized to peak in midlife, and thus, follow a nonlinear change trajectory across adulthood, extant studies have been too limited in scope to formally test this hypothesis. Indeed, most existing studies on Generativity development have been cross-sectional, with the few longitudinal studies either only examining the first half of adulthood or using too few measurement points. The current study, therefore, aimed to address these limitations by investigating Generativity development in the context of an accelerated longitudinal design. Accelerated longitudinal designs capitalize on both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, combining age-heterogenous individuals’ overlapping trajectories to estimate developmental change across the sample’s age range. If cohort effects are not present in the estimated trajectory, this trajectory can be interpreted as developmental change. Participants included 876 age-heterogenous individuals from The Notre Dame Study of Health & Well-being (Mean age = 58.89; SD age = 9.42), a 10-year, longitudinal study of adult development and aging. Capitalizing on the age-heterogeneity of the sample at Time 1, two-level, multilevel modeling was employed to estimate Generativity development across ages 37 to 96. Results indicate that Generativity follows an age-graded cubic trend, with no apparent cohort effects. Specifically, Generativity peaks in early midlife, declines slightly before stabilizing across ages 47-77, and then declines sharply thereafter. Implications for lifespan developmental research, as well as health and well-being, will be discussed.

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Stuck in an Existential Quagmire: The Role of Perceived True Self-Knowledge in Client Stuckness

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology ◽

10.1521/jscp.2020.39.5.449 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 449-477

Author(s):

Jane E. M. Carter ◽

Grace N. Rivera ◽

Robert W. Heffer ◽

Rebecca J. Schlegel

Keyword(s):

Well Being ◽

Psychological Research ◽

Preliminary Evidence ◽

Therapeutic Interventions ◽

Future Research ◽

True Self ◽

Social Psychological Research ◽

Self Knowledge ◽

Theoretical Evidence

Introduction: Research suggests that perceived true self-knowledge is important for well-being. However, less discussion exists about how perceived true self-knowledge affects therapy outcomes. We suggest that perceived true self-knowledge may be important when attempting to address client stuckness (i.e., lack of progress in therapy; Beaudoin, 2008). We argue that when clients perceive a lack of true self-knowledge, they are unable to draw upon the true self-concept as a source of meaning. This may hinder therapeutic progress and contribute to client stuckness. Methods: We present theoretical evidence for the role of perceived true self-knowledge in experiences of stuckness. Then, we present case studies of two stuck clients and their therapeutic interventions as preliminary evidence for our model. Results: Direct strategies geared at enhancing true self-knowledge by helping the client construct coherent self-concepts worked for one client, but not for the other. Indirect strategies, grounded in social psychological research, are outlined as a method of enhancing perceptions of true self-knowledge for clients who do not benefit from direct strategies. Discussion: Potential moderators for the effectiveness of direct versus indirect strategies to enhance true self-knowledge are discussed. We then outline promising avenues for future research that include attempts to investigate the prevalence of self-alienation in clinical populations, and the effectiveness of strategies aimed at enhancing perceived true self-knowledge among clients experiencing stuckness.

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Life-Span Learning: A Developmental Perspective

The International Journal of Aging and Human Development ◽

10.2190/r4ek-u2v5-2c35-28p0 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 55-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

James E. Thornton

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Life Span ◽

Adult Development ◽

Well Being ◽

Learning Processes ◽

The Body ◽

Individual Development ◽

Life Span Development ◽

Development And Aging ◽

The Life Course

The article discusses learning as embedded processes of development and aging, and as social activity over the life course. The concept of life-span learning is proposed and outlined to discuss these processes as aspects of and propositions in life-span development and aging theory. Life-span learning processes arise and continuously develop in a dynamically complex body, brain, and the mind they support as essential features of development and aging over the life course. Life-span learning processes are established by evolutionary adaptive mechanisms, enriched by challenging environments, and continuously developed in supportive social structures. These ideas are derived from evolutionary biology and psychology, the cognitive sciences, life-span development and aging research, and adult development and learning studies. It is argued that life-span learning activities that challenge the body-mind-brain nexus are indispensable to optimize individual development and aging. Three global interventions and their strategies are discussed that enhance life-span learning: Learning to Learn, Learning for Growth, and Learning for Well-being.

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Successful Aging: A Comprehensive Outcome Using Latent Profile Analysis

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1370 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 424-425

Author(s):

Kasey Longley ◽

Joseph Grzywacz

Keyword(s):

Adult Development ◽

Successful Aging ◽

Latent Profile Analysis ◽

Profile Analysis ◽

Adult Population ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Active Engagement ◽

Age Related ◽

Midlife Development

Abstract Understanding “successful aging” is a primary goal of gerontology and adult development researchers that has been motivated by rapid the increases in life expectancy over the last 100 years. Successful aging, as it is understood by Rowe and Kahn, is conceptualized multidimensionally in terms of limited disease and disability, high physical, mental and cognitive functioning, and active engagement with life. “Success” in all three domains reflects the idealized manifestation of “successful aging.” Nevertheless, research on successful aging typically focuses on only one or two aspects of the model – most commonly physical disease or disability. The overall goal of this research is to advance understanding and subsequent attempts to promote holistic successful aging. Specifically, using key metrics from each domain of successful aging from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), this study characterizes distinct profiles of successful aging, and it describes the distribution of these profiles in the adult population. Results indicate 3 profiles. These are labeled as Successfully Aged, Somewhat Successfully Aged, and Least Successfully Aged. Approximately 82.1% of the population (mean age=50.5) is classified as Successfully Aged, whereas the remainder are classified in the Somewhat Successfully Aged (12.2%), and Least Successfully Aged (5.6%), respectively. As expected, those who were classified as Successfully Aged had the highest cognitive scores, sense of well-being, and self-rated health; and had the lowest number of age-related physical disabilities (i.e. cancer, stroke, osteoporosis, etc.) and mental health conditions (depression, anxiety disorder, and panic disorder). This outcome can be applied to multiple predictors.

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