1 Psychology and human development1.12 Stages of human development
1.12.11 Adaptations in adult life
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Written by Resident Doctor Committee · Published
Stages of adult life
Levinson's seasons of adult life divide adulthood into early, middle and late eras. They are staged by chronological age, not by life events.
Each era and period has an age band that varies little between people. The eras follow a fixed sequence, and each transition lasts about five years.
Other models stage adulthood by events such as birth, illness or loss.
The midlife crisis has weak empirical support. Most adults pass through mid-life without one, and reported crises usually follow life events.
Pairing and parenthood
Gottman's four horsemen are criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling. Contempt is the one most closely associated with relationship breakdown.
After a separation, assess depression and suicide risk.
Empty nest syndrome is the loneliness, sadness and loss of purpose some parents feel when the last child leaves home.
Empty nest syndrome is likeliest where parenting was the centre of daily life and identity. It is tied to that transition and falls short of a depressive episode.
Illness and loss
Emotional responses to illness follow no fixed sequence.
Disenfranchised grief is grief that others poorly acknowledge, for example after the death of a hidden partner.
Brief experiences of the dead person's presence can occur without any psychotic disorder.
Model of grief | Account |
|---|---|
Kübler-Ross, later with Kessler | Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance; first based on dying patients |
Bowlby and Parkes | Numbness, yearning, disorganisation and reorganisation |
Worden | Accept the loss, process the pain, adjust, and keep a bond while re-engaging |
Stroebe and Schut | Alternating between loss-focused grieving and restoration-focused daily demands |
These models are frameworks, not compulsory stages.
Expected distress or disorder
Functioning is the most useful practical index: sustained disruption to work, relationships or self-care suggests disorder.
Other markers are pervasive anhedonia, worthlessness, psychotic symptoms, suicidal intent, self-neglect, and grief that keeps disabling beyond the duration criteria of the relevant classification.
Assess risk even when the distress is understandable.