Topically organized, Adult Development and Aging: Growth, Longevity and Challenges provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the aging process in adulthood from multiple perspectives. The authors use principles of lifespan development to show readers the directionality of changes in early, middle, and late adulthood. Within its framework of scientific literacy, the text charts four key themes to guide learners: a focus on aging as development; a global perspective on contexts; a vibrant, integrated approach to diverse coverage; and psychological science that translates into real-life experiences. A final chapter focuses on ways to improve the experience of aging for all adults. Included with this title: The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.

This comprehensive book helps readers process a clear picture of adult development and aging with the help and results of intensive scientific research. It challenges common stereotypes about this subject matter, and interprets the research data into an optimistic yet realistic appraisal of the many problems faced by the elderly in today's society. Chapter topics look at independence and intimacy in young adulthood; responsibility and failure in the middle years; the reintegration or despair of later life; research methodology; families; careers; personality development; learning and memory; intellectual and biological development; mental disorders; and death and bereavement. For individuals who want to view the potential richness of life— at all stages, and/or understand the lives of older adults they may care for.

The United Nations World Assembly on Aging has made advancing health and well-being into old age a worldwide call for action. And this text at hand shows us what researchers worldwide are doing to answer that call. Here, three of America's most esteemed experts on aging lead a global team of contributors - each an expert in his or her country - to show us what the top challenges of each nation are, and what top research is being done there to meet those. While we cannot predict with absolute certainty all of the issues that will arise over the next 20 years, we can anticipate some and we must start now to prepare for these challenges, an expert from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warned at a recent UN World Assembly on Aging. Needed response to the global population shift is not just the responsibility of governments, but will be a product of wise, long-term decisions made by individuals and societies, she explained. In most nations globally, populations are graying and the number of people aged 65 and older is vastly increasing, creating a larger segment of senior citizens than the world has ever before seen. Across human history, the elderly accounted for no more than 3 percent of the world population. By the year 2030, the elderly are expected to make up about 25 percent of the world population. And while longevity is of course seen as a great success, longer lifespan for such masses also creates dilemmas. For example, the incidence of dementia has already increased significantly with an 11-fold increase in people aged 65 and older in the US since the turn of the century, and a similar increase in aged people in Scotland has researchers there scrambling to find treatments for what they expect will be a 75 percent increase in dementia over the next 25 years. Chronic diseases that come with aging are already taxing health care systems in the US and around the world to Japan, with most experts aware their current health systems would be overrun and lack enough staff and facilities to handle the needs of an elderly population multiplying largely in the coming two decades. Increases in psychological issues such as dealing with the depression often striking aged people are impending, too, as are social issues such as how families, and public policies, will deal with the changing shape of the family.

With increasing numbers of the population living into old age, we need a better understanding of the nature and experience of ageing in all its aspects. Up to now, very few texts have considered this in any depth, but 'Ageing and Development', a new volume in the Texts in Developmental Psychology series, provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of the theories and research in adult development into old age. The classic early accounts of theorists such as Jung and Erikson are considered, as well as their present day successors. Particular attention is given to theories of adjustment to loss, and to the threat of loss, which dominate current gerontological research. A notable feature of the book is the separate section devoted to the psychology of advanced old age, to life in states of physical and/or mental frailty, and to the survival of the self in these circumstances. There is a strong emphasis throughout on up-to-date empirical research and illustrative case examples. The reader is constantly encouraged to take a critical perspective, to understand the strengths and limitations of different studies, and to think about the issues raised in terms of their own lives.

This second edition of Health Aspects of Aging serves to broaden the perspectives of societal change due to increases in life expectancy, as well as the effects of age-related changes as they impinge upon the provision of health care for older persons. The growing presence of a large number of persons aged 65 and older worldwide has propelled a re-evaluation of the nature of life that is protracted to 100 years and beyond. The emphasis in this second edition is to replace the prevailing problem approach to aging by a problem-solving approach. The problem-solving approach of this volume has allowed for the incorporation of the concept of new social structures and the development of intervention and prevention strategies along with new technologies. Such new products and health care measures include those that are deliberately aimed to offset debilities due to normal age changes, the onslaught of diseases, incongruous environments, and altered social states. Such a multi-disciplinary perspective underscores the fact that aging permeates not only biological systems, but clinical medicine, economics, ethics, and the very fabric of society. The chapters in this volume address these issues from the standpoints of diverse disciplines and professional positions. Since biological changes are primary issues, the aging process is largely described from the perspective of biological changes related to age and to particular dysfunctions. The environmental features and the potential introduction of technological interventions are interspersed within chapters, as well as finding primary focus in particular chapters. The maturity of the technology described in the chapters varies, from devices and systems that are nearly ready to be marketed to concepts and prototypes that are still in the design and developmental stages in the laboratory. The relationship between the provision of appropriate health care and the responsible utilization of technologies as described in this volume will serve to enhance the nature of life extension.

As the Baby Boomer cohort moves from middle to later adulthood, it is likely this generation will redefine what it means to age. Growing older will no longer be synonymous with loss and decline. In fact, it is true that the majority of older adults today live fulfilling lives. This special issue discusses ways in which older adults can age successfully—that is—how individuals can maintain their physical and cognitive health, as well as maintain a healthy engagement with life. Also addressed are the universal challenges faced by older adults in their pursuit to age successfully. The objective of this collection is to serve as a stimulus to future research on aging and change in the later years of life. It presents an outstanding array of articles that cover a range of central issues in this area of study. Each author provides a unique insight into the mystery and challenge that awaits us all: the ability to age successfully.

Features that characterize the aging process include the gradual accumulation of cell damage after prolonged exposure to oxidative and inflammatory events over a lifetime. In addition to the accretion of lesions, the intrinsic levels of pro-oxidant and aberrant immune responses are elevated with age. These adverse events are often further enhanced by the chronic and slow progressing diseases that characterize the senescent brain and cardiovascular system. The incidence of some disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular diseases are sufficiently prevalent in the extreme elderly that these disorders can arguably be considered "normal". Aging and Aging-Related Disorders examines the interface between normal and pathological aging, and illustrates how this border can sometimes be diffuse. It explores and illustrates the processes underlying the means by which aging becomes increasingly associated with inappropriate levels of free radical activity and how this can serve as a platform for the progression of age-related diseases. The book provides chapters that examine the interactive relationship between systems in the body that can enhance or sometimes even limit cellular longevity. In addition, specific redox mechanisms in cells are discussed. Another important aspect for aging discussed here is the close relationship between the systems of the body and exposure to environmental influences of oxidative stress that can affect both cellular senescence and a cell’s nuclear DNA. What may be even more interesting to note is that these external stressors are not simply confined to illnesses usually associated with aging, but can be evident in maturing and young individuals. A broad range of internationally recognized experts have contributed to this book. Their aim is to successfully highlight emerging knowledge and therapy for the understanding of the basis and development of aging–related disorders.

Takes a life-span view of development and a multi-disciplinary approach to adulthood, presenting development and aging at multiple levels: biological, psychological, sociological, anthropological, cultural and historical. Stresses the plasticity and diversity of aging. Promotes an understanding of adult development and of life in an aging society. Intended to develop analytic skills in students by allowing them to interpret age differences.