scholarly journals Missionaries, Middle Age, and the Generative Life

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Robert Dunaetz
Keyword(s):  
Adult Development ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Life Narrative ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

By the time career missionaries reach middle age, the risk of personal stagnation is high. Some missionaries, however, are very productive during this period of life. In Erickson’s classic description of adult development, middle-aged adults who successfully navigate this period need to lead a generative life, learning how to positively influence future generations. This paper reviews recent literature on the predictors of generativity, including awareness of early blessings and calling, awareness of others’ problems and pain, strong values and beliefs, pursuing goals to benefit others, and the presence of redemptive sequences in one’s life narrative (the story that we tell ourselves and others which helps define our identity). Missionaries are encouraged to update their life narrative, going beyond the story of their conversion to Christianity, to include stories of how God has worked in their lives in recent years.

scholarly journals PROFESSIONAL SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF MIDDLE-AGED ADULT LEARNERS: OPPORTUNITIES FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL SUPPORT

2021 ◽  
Vol 229 ◽  
pp. 31-39
Author(s):  
V.A. Ioannidi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Adult Students ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Self Development ◽  
Professional Self ◽  
Middle Aged Adult ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

The attitude to age in Russia and abroad is rapidly changing. Now middle-aged adults are fairly recognized as capable of continuing their educational and professional activities, active self-development, long-term economic activity and financial independence. Middle-aged adults remain involved in social life in the family and society, and are ready to develop professionally and personally throughout their lives. The process of supporting professional self-development in the educational environment should be holistic and systemically organized, in which psychological and pedagogical conditions are created for successful professional training and personal self-development. In the course of the theoretical study clarified the meaning of “professional self-development of students middle-age adults”; the highlighted stages of psychological and pedagogical support of professional self-development for adults; evaluation of the level of readiness of students of middle-age adults and their actual involvement in the process of professional self-development; updated pedagogical and psychological conditions of psychological and pedagogical support of students middle-age adults; the effectiveness of the activities of the participants of the developed support program and the effectiveness of the program as a whole are analyzed. Professional self-development of middle-aged adult students is possible through the implementation of a program of psychological and pedagogical support. For an effective process of supporting professional self-development, it is necessary to create an appropriate educational environment and conditions for the formation of students involvement and readiness in this process.

scholarly journals Age Differences in Positive Event Appraisals during COVID-19: Evidence from a Daily Diary Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 888-888
Author(s):  
Patrick Klaiber ◽  
Lydia Ong ◽  
Anita DeLongis ◽  
Nancy Sin
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Diary Study ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Daily Diary Study ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Abstract Multiple studies suggest that community-dwelling older adults are psychologically resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak, older age was associated with engaging in more daily positive events (Klaiber et al., 2021, Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences). We followed up on these findings by exploring age differences in positive event appraisals during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 7-day diary study conducted between March and August 2020, 1036 participants (mean age = 45.95, SD = 16.04, range = 18-91) reported their positive events in nightly surveys. If at least one positive event occurred, participants rated their appraisals of the event on the following dimensions: importance, calmness, happiness, gratitude, personal responsibility, and control. Older adults (60 years+) rated their positive events to be more personally important and felt more calm and happy during these events, compared to younger (18-39 years) and middle-aged adults (40-59 years). Furthermore, older adults felt more grateful during positive events compared to younger but not middle-aged adults. There were no age differences in feelings of control or personal responsibility for positive events. These findings highlight the importance of daily positive events for older adults during a time of major stress. In line with theories on adult development, daily positive event processes in older adults are characterized by valuing positive and meaningful social connections, as well as a greater degree of positive event-specific emotions such as feeling calm, happy, and grateful.

Abstract 38: Glucose Levels and Brain Gray Matter Volume in Middle-aged Adults: Findings From the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults CARDIA Study

Circulation ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 135 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine Elbejjani ◽  
R Nick Bryan ◽  
Pamela J Schreiner ◽  
David R Jacobs ◽  
Cora E Lewis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Fasting Glucose ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Brain Diseases ◽  
Smoking History ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Glucose Levels ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Background: Type II diabetes has been widely linked to a higher risk of dementia. Some studies have also shown relationships between diabetes and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers of exacerbated brain aging and neurocognitive pathology, such as gray matter (GM) volume atrophy. However, data on the earlier impacts of glucose levels on GM volume in younger subjects are scarce. Objective: We assessed the cross-sectional relationship of fasting glucose levels and GM volume measured at middle-age. Methods: Data come from the brain MRI sample of the CARDIA study, a bi-racial community-dwelling cohort of middle-aged adults (n=709, mean age=50 (SD=3.5)). We used multivariable linear regression models and adjusted for potential confounders, including several cardiovascular and metabolic factors (hypertension, body mass index, smoking, history of vascular disease, and hypercholesterolemia). Results: Higher fasting glucose levels were associated with smaller total GM volume (-1 mL (95%CI= -0.16, -0.04) smaller GM volume per each 1 mg/dL increase in glucose levels). In analyses exploring the normal (<100 mg/dL), pre-diabetic (≥100, <126 mg/dL), and diabetic glucose ranges (≥126 mg/dL), we found that subjects with diabetic glucose levels had -14 mL smaller GM (95%CI= -21.50, -5.61; p=0.001) than subjects with normal glucose levels; subjects with pre-diabetic levels were not significantly different from those with normal levels (p for trend for the glucose-range categories =0.08). Conclusion: Results suggest that important relationships between glucose levels and smaller GM can already be detected at middle-age. These associations were particularly pronounced in the diabetic glucose ranges. Findings strengthen the links between vascular factors and brain health and emphasize the importance of studying the earlier stages of these links to improve our understanding of the course of brain diseases and to identify optimal time-windows for prevention and treatment strategies.

Young and Middle Aged Adults Differ in Neural Correlate of Sustained Attention: A fNIRS Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shweta Shenoy ◽  
Prachi Khandekar ◽  
Abhinav Sathe
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

: Sustained attention (SA) is a construct of cognition that tends to decline with age. There is a lack of literature regarding the neural correlates of SA in middle age, a link between young and old age. This study evaluated the differences in SA ability and its neural correlates using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) between young and middle-aged adults. 38 young and 25 middle-aged adults were evaluated for the changes in neural correlates (oxy and deoxyhemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal cortex) during a SA task known as cognition. The results showed that young adults performed significantly better than middle-aged adults on the SA task with no gender difference in their performance. There was a significant difference in the prefrontal activation pattern between young and middle-aged adults. We found right prefrontal dominance in young adults and left the prefrontal authority in middle-aged adults. This study concludes that the ability to maintain SA diminishes with age, advancing from young to middle age. Hemodynamic findings confirmed significant differences in neural resources in the prefrontal cortical areas between young and middle age. Findings document the neurobiological basis of age-related decline in the middle-aged population to understand changes in the brain's functioning during SA-related cognitive tasks.

scholarly journals Impaired Sensorimotor Processing During Complex Gait Precedes Behavioral Changes in Middle-aged Adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (12) ◽  
pp. 1861-1869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trina Mitchell ◽  
Faryn Starrs ◽  
Jean-Paul Soucy ◽  
Alexander Thiel ◽  
Caroline Paquette
Keyword(s):  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Progressive Failure ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Synaptic Activity ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Sensorimotor Processing ◽  
18F Fluorodeoxyglucose ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Abstract Gait impairment during complex walking in older adults is thought to result from a progressive failure to compensate for deteriorating peripheral inputs by central neural processes. It is the primary hypothesis of this article that failure of higher cerebral adaptations may already be present in middle-aged adults who do not present observable gait impairments. We, therefore, compared metabolic brain activity during steering of gait (ie, complex locomotion) and straight walking (ie, simple locomotion) in young and middle-aged individuals. Cerebral distribution of [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose, a marker of brain synaptic activity, was assessed during over ground straight walking and steering of gait using positron emission tomography in seven young adults (aged 24 ± 3) and seven middle-aged adults (aged 59 ± 3). Brain regions involved in steering of gait (posterior parietal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, and cerebellum) are retained in middle age. However, despite similar walking performance, there are age-related differences in the distribution of [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose during steering: middle-aged adults have (i) increased activation of precentral and fusiform gyri, (ii) reduced deactivation of multisensory cortices (inferior frontal, postcentral, and fusiform gyri), and (iii) reduced activation of the middle frontal gyrus and cuneus. Our results suggest that preclinical decline in central sensorimotor processing in middle age is observable during complex walking.

Theoretical Aspects of the Study of the Transformational Potential of Parental Loss for Middle-Aged Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Oksana P. Shchotka
Keyword(s):  
Middle Age ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Age Factors ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Parental Relationship ◽  
Post Traumatic Growth ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Middle Aged Adults ◽  
The Impact

The loss of the last of the parents is an understudied and underestimated phenomenon in Ukrainian psychological science in terms of the development of middle-aged adults. The purpose of the study: to identify the role of the loss of both parents in the personal transformation of the adult. To achieve this purpose, the methods of theoretical knowledge were applied: analysis, generalisation, systematization, and interpretation. The methodological framework of the study was formed by the idea of middle age as a time of deep self-cognition, the unification of opposing tendencies, the reaching of mature responsibility, and theoretical ideas of post-traumatic growth. To achieve this purpose, the methods of theoretical cognition were applied: analysis, generalisation, systematization, and interpretation. It was found that the death of the last living parent leads to changes in identity, reassessment of life, relationships, to the use of methods of activity that were previously unavailable. It has been determined that middle-age orphanhood activates specific mechanisms of personality development: loss of existential security (“I am face to face with the world”), actualisation of the fear of death (“I will be the next”). As a result, mature responsibility is born, the fact of the inevitability of personal death is accepted. None of the other normative-age factors have such a strong transformational potential. The most important mediating factor of changes in the adult’s personality is the completeness/incompleteness of the child’s parental relationship with the deceased parents. Incomplete child-parent relationship becomes a source of personal trauma and at the same time contains a powerful resource of personal transformations. The prospect of further study of the long-term consequences of orphanhood in middle age is considered in the empirical verification of the impact of this event on the life and personality of the adult from the subjective standpoint

Research Forum on Changes in Sensory Perception in Middle-Aged Adults: A Summary of a Special Session at Hearing Across the Lifespan (HEAL) 2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry E. Humes
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Sensory Perception ◽  
Special Session ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Effects Of Aging ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Purpose The purpose of this article is to introduce the special research forum on sensory-processing changes in middle-aged adults. Method This is a brief written introduction to the special session, which included five presentations, each emphasizing a slightly different aspect of sensory perception. Conclusion The effects of aging on sensory processing, including auditory processing and speech perception, are not confined to older adults but begin in middle age in many cases.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Genes Are Associated with Intrinsic Connectivity in Middle Age

2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-320
Author(s):  
Jenna Katherine Blujus ◽  
Laura Elizabeth Korthauer ◽  
Elizabeth Awe ◽  
Marijam Frahmand ◽  
Ira Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Background: It is critical to identify individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) earlier in the disease time course, such as middle age and preferably well prior to the onset of clinical symptoms, when intervention efforts may be more successful. Genome-wide association and candidate gene studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in APOE, CLU, CR1, PICALM, and SORL1 that confer increased risk of AD. Objective: In the current study, we investigated the associations between SNPs in these genes and resting-state functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN), frontoparietal network (FPN), and executive control network (ECN) in healthy, non-demented middle-aged adults (age 40 –60; N = 123; 74 females). Methods: Resting state networks of interest were identified through independent components analysis using a template-matching procedure and individual spatial maps and time courses were extracted using dual regression. Results: Within the posterior DMN, functional connectivity was associated with CR1 rs1408077 and CLU rs9331888 polymorphisms (p’s < 0.05). FPN connectivity was associated with CR1 rs1408077, CLU rs1136000, SORL1 rs641120, and SORL1 rs689021 (p’s < 0.05). Functional connectivity within the ECN was associated with the CLU rs11136000 (p < 0.05). There were no APOE- or PICALM-related differences in any of the networks investigated (p’s > 0.05). Conclusion: This is the first demonstration of the relationship between intrinsic network connectivity and AD risk alleles in CLU, CR1, and SORL1 in healthy, middle-aged adults. These SNPs should be considered in future investigations aimed at identifying potential preclinical biomarkers for AD.

scholarly journals Playing Minecraft Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory for Details in Middle Aged Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig E. L. Stark ◽  
Gregory D. Clemenson ◽  
Ujwal Aluru ◽  
Nikki Hatamian ◽  
Shauna M. Stark
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Middle Aged Adults ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline ◽  
The Impact

Concerns are often raised about the impact that playing video games may have on cognition and behavior, whether gameplay is intense and protracted as with competitive Esports or whether it is more casual gameplay. Work in our lab and others, however, has shown that at least some classes of games can improve memory function. In particular, playing immersive 3D games that provide rich experiences and novelty improve memory on tasks that rely upon the hippocampus in effects that mirror the effects of “environmental enrichment” in numerous rodent studies. Our goal in the present study was to determine whether even modest amounts of gameplay (~30 min/day for 4 weeks) would result in improved memory performance in middle-aged adults. Not only is this demographic potentially highly receptive to gaming (they make up a significant portion of Esports viewers and of game players), but interventions in middle age may be a prime time for reducing later age-related cognitive decline. Here, we found that the benefits in middle age paralleled effects previously observed in young adults as playing Minecraft, showing improved memory performance on a hippocampal dependent memory task.

scholarly journals Competing Speech Perception in Middle Age

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen S. Helfer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Aging Process ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Listening Environments ◽  
Middle Aged Adults ◽  
Competing Speech

Purpose This research forum article summarizes research from our laboratory that assessed middle-aged adults' ability to understand speech in the presence of competing talkers. Method The performance of middle-aged adults on laboratory-based speech understanding tasks was compared to that of younger and older adults. Results Decline in the ability to understand speech in complex listening environments can be demonstrated in midlife. The specific auditory and cognitive contributors to these problems have yet to be established. Conclusion There is evidence that the ability to understand a target speech message in the presence of competing speech messages changes relatively early in the aging process. The nature and impact of these changes warrant further investigation.

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