LATENCY/PATHWAYS, FUNCTIONALISM/MORPHOGENESIS: CONTRASTING PARADIGMS OF LIFE-COURSE INEQUALITY AND CHANGE

Abstract Attention to dis/advantage during childhood has become a major interest of life-course studies. It has been a force in advancing attention to inequality over the undifferentiated “normal aging” versions of life-course and gerontological research, making clear the irreducible importance of the presence/ absence of key resources in accounting for life-course outcomes, from early onward. Explanatory strategies set forth within this work often contrast “latency/early origins” models (with explanation anchored in the early years) with “pathways” models (which examine the independent effects of adult life-course circumstances). This paper argues that these two types of models actually are aligned with distinct conceptual paradigms that imply fundamentally different understandings of aging in society (“functionalist/organismic” and “systemic/morphogenetic”). The differential implications of these two models for the relation of cumulative dis/advantage and social change is explored.

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Dolor y Alegría: Women and Social Change in Urban Mexico. By Sarah LeVine. [Life Course Studies.] (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993. Pp.xi, 239. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $37.50.)

The Americas A Quarterly Review of Latin American History ◽

10.2307/1008381 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 51 (1) ◽

pp. 147-148

Author(s):

Robert C. Williamson

Keyword(s):

Social Change ◽

Life Course ◽

University Of Wisconsin ◽

Life Course Studies

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Social Change and the Life Course: How Can They Be Linked?

Contemporary Psychology ◽

10.1037/029009 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 35 (9) ◽

pp. 843-844

Author(s):

Johannes J. Huinink

Keyword(s):

Social Change ◽

Life Course ◽

The Life Course

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International Centre for Life course Studies in Society and Health

Impact ◽

10.21820/23987073.2017.9.88 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 (9) ◽

pp. 88-90

Author(s):

Amanda Sacker ◽

Yvonne Kelly ◽

Tarani Chandola

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Life Course Studies

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Multimorbidity and leisure-time physical activity over the life course: a population-based birth cohort study

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-10719-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Natan Feter ◽

Jayne S. Leite ◽

Daniel Umpierre ◽

Eduardo L. Caputo ◽

Airton J. Rombaldi

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Life Course ◽

Leisure Time ◽

Leisure Time Physical Activity ◽

Adult Life ◽

Population Based ◽

Independent Effect ◽

Sensitive Period ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Saturated Model

Abstract Background We aimed to test which life course model best described the association between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and multimorbidity at age 55. We analyzed data from birth to age 55 using the database from the 1958 National Child Development Survey. Methods Multimorbidity was considered as the presence of more than one chronic condition. LTPA was measured through questionnaires from 1965 (age 7) to 2013 (age 55), which were applied in eight different occasions. We compared the fit of a series of nested adjusted logistic regression models (representing either the critical, accumulation or sensitive period models) with a fully saturated model. Data were reported as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results From an eligible sample of 15,613 cohort members, 9137 were interviewed in the latest sweep (58.5%). Men were more physically active than women at ages 11, 16, and 23 (p < 0.001). LTPA every day in the week was more frequent in women than men in ages 33, 42, and 50 (p < 0.001). The prevalence of multimorbidity at age 55 was 33.0% (n = 2778). The sensitive analysis revealed that LTPA during adolescence (OR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.98) and mid adult life (age 50 and 55; OR: 0.82; 95%CI: 0.69, 0.98) have a stronger effect on the risk for multimorbidity at age 55 considering all other life stages in the model. Also, adolescence showed a critical independent effect on the risk for multimorbidity (OR: 0.82; 95%CI: 0.70, 0.97). No difference was found between those models. Conclusions These data support the notion of a protective physical activity “legacy” at early ages of childhood against multimorbidity at older ages. We highlight the need for LTPA promotion through intervention tailored especially on schooling and older ages in order to reduce the burden of multimorbidity.

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Evolving views of Ageing and Longevity from Homer to Hippocrates: Emergence of Natural Factors, Persistence of the Supernatural

Greece and Rome ◽

10.1017/s0017383510000070 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 57 (2) ◽

pp. 355-377 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

CALEB ELLICOTT FINCH

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Life Span ◽

Natural Factors ◽

Biomedical Scientist ◽

Human Ageing ◽

Ancient Literature ◽

Course Outcomes

During the three centuries from Homer to Hippocrates, views of human ageing and longevity evolved in a socio-cultural sense, with relationships to Greek medicine and science. I, as a biomedical scientist, examine ancient literature for roots of the idea that life-course outcomes can be influenced by tangible ‘natural’ factors, whether these are environmental or the result of lifestyle. The concept that an individual has any choice in health and ageing departs radically from ancient, persistent beliefs in the primacy of the supernatural, that the gods could predestine one's life span by birth or could alter it at any time.

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Sex in an ideology of love

Intimacy and Ageing ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447326496.003.0010 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Torbjörn Bildtgård ◽

Peter Öberg

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Life Course ◽

Case Studies ◽

Intimate Relationships ◽

Later Life ◽

Sexual Intimacy ◽

Sexual Norms ◽

Gerontological Research ◽

The Life Course ◽

Loving Relationship

Until recently the sex life of older people was more or less invisible in family and gerontological research. This chapter contributes to breaking this silence by focusing on the role and meaning of sex in intimate relationships in later life. Based on biographical case studies, the chapter investigates how sexual norms have changed over the life course of contemporary cohorts of older people and how they have experienced this change. The chapter considers sexual intimacy as part of new intimate relationships established late in life and questions the persistent assumption that older people who date are primarily looking for companionate relationships. It is shown that older people’s ideas about sex are deeply embedded in an ideology of love, where sex tends to be viewed as a natural part of a loving relationship, while sex outside of a loving relationship – also in a loveless marriage – is frowned on.

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The Little Professor: Reflection on the Structure, Development and Evolution of the Adult in the Child

International Journal of Transactional Analysis Research & Practice ◽

10.29044/v10i2p79 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 79-86 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tânia Elizabeth Caetano Alves

Keyword(s):

Personality Trait ◽

Adult Life ◽

Early Years ◽

Structure Development ◽

The World ◽

Life Script ◽

Development And Evolution

According to the concept of the Life Script, developed by Eric Berne, the fate of each individual is sketched in the early years of life. The subdivision of Child Ego State, known as Adult in the Child or Little Professor, is responsible for decoding the world throughout intuition and analogical thought and, thus, in one way or another, having physical and emotional survival guaranteed. The purpose of this article is to qualify and recognise the Adult in the Child and its relevance in the construction of personality trait, by studying the anatomical, physiological and emotional scenario in which the Adult in the Child develops itself. The author suggests that the peculiar stamina and wisdom held in the Adult in the Child may be present in adult life in a positive manner, even if the events that structured it were dramatic.

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