Psy 4072 Study GuideTopic: RelationshipsChapter 9- Marriage, families, parenthood o Marriage is a social institution that is legally sanctioned between a man and a woman By age 55, 74% of men and women have been married  Advantages include retirement, health insurance, survivor benefits, greater happiness and higher quality of life  Disadvantages include fewer financial resources, lower social support, an more complicated legally to terminate a marital relationshipo Cohabitation effect- greater likelihood of divorce among couples who cohabitate before marriage  50-60% of married couples did this; more common since the 60’so Divorce- average marriage lasts 8 years Declining to premarital education, people marrying later, and more realistic expectations 18% of all marriages are second marriages, 4% are third Divorce proneness- tendency to leave when it gets tough Most divorces occur within the first 3 years Average length of a marriage is 8 years Mother offered custody 72% of the time Negative consequences to staying in an unhealthy marriage Rejecting or invalidating a spouse’s communication is number one thing that leads to marital problems 10% of the adult population in the US is divorcedo Parents have a greater time to indulge in their own interests after children leave the home; they feel increased freedom and privacyo Medicare doesn’t cover chronic long-term careo Most live no more than half an hour away from at least one of the childreno Protective effect of marriage- have a 9-15% reduction in mortality risks; greater quality of life if married- Intimate relationshipso Socioemotional selectivity theory People reduce the range of their network of relationships as they move through adulthood to maximize social and emotional gains and minimize risks Less interested in meeting new people or cultivating large social networkso Fearful attachment- afraid of closeness with others and place no value in intimacyo Dismissive- don’t want to be involved in close relationships at all- Intergenerational relationshipso Very commono Motivated by sense of dutyo Elder parents provide for a long time and children repay by taking care of themo Adult children do experience developmental changes- Parents and adult childreno 81% of middle-aged and elderly adults have living children Filial maturity- Developmental transition where adult children begin to identify with their parents Filial anxiety- Occurs when adult children realize that they may be forced to take on the care of a disabled parent Filial obligation- In other cultures, it is expected that children will takeon the care of their parents in old age - Grandparents and grandparentingo 56 million grandparentso Indulge without responsibilitieso Enjoy receiving affection and respecto Facilitates a reinvolvement in one’s personal pasto Skip generation family A situation where grandparents are raising grandchildren- 5.7 million or 11%- Reasons for it includeo Parental substance abuse, child abuse, teen pregnancy, unemployment, divorce, AIDS, jailo- Widowhoodo 77% of all widowed adults are over age of 65 38% of men 76% of womeno Widowhood effect- surviving spouse is more likely to die than married counterpartso Risk of widowhood after age of 65 is greater for black women at 83%- Friendshipso Psychological supporto Self-disclosure Vital to friendship; revealing info we would normally keep a secreto Enhance well being  Reciprocal actions where you get benefits from being friends with other peopleo Interpersonal similarityo Physical attractivenesso Intelligence and competenceo Characterized by reciprocity, with give and take, mutual support, sharing companionship Independent style- Do not need best friends; share good times with people; private Discerning style- Extremely selective in choice of friends- Small number of friends- Elite group of friends Gregarious style - Close to a fairly large number of people- Still may have an elite group but they have another group of several dozen people- Larger discerning styleo Number of close friends remains relatively stable throughout adulthoodo Solid friendships that don’t change after middle ageo Casual friends become less common with increasing ageo Substitute friend networks with family networkso Voluntary o Mutualo Flexibleo Equalo Emotionalo TerminableTopic: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)Chapter 5 (111-121; dementia and related neurological disorders)- Prevalence; historical perspectives on ADo Primary degenerative dementiao 100,000 people die each yearo 4th leading cause of death in adultso Onset beyond age of 65o 5-5.5 million Americans have ito 12% of 65+ have it and 50% of 85+- Signs and symptoms; diagnostic issueso Impaired memoryo Impaired intellect Trouble comprehending facts or ideaso Impaired judgment- shot judgment o Impaired orientation- time orientation; can become lost in a familiar situationo Excessive or shallow emotionso Loss of intellectual ability severe enough to interfere with functioningo Memory impairments Aphasias (language)- difficult finding a work mid-sentence; simple objects- anomia  Apraxia (motor)- can’t put the idea and motor movement together Agnosia (recognize objects)- can’t name objects; using a different motor pathway that hasn’t been compromised yeto Dramatic brain cell death, extensive plaques and tangles, pronounced brain weight shrinkageo AD is a progressive brain disease that destroys brain cells and causes memory, thinking, and behavior severe enough to affect dailylife- Treatmentso Medications to soften symptomso Cholinesterase inhibitors- enzyme that takes ectocholine apart Tacrine- Cognex; unpleasant side effects N-methyl-D-aspertate- behavioral functionso Physical exercise, proper nutrition, social activities- Possible causeso Slow acting viruso Cortical blood flowo Protein synthesiso Neurotransmitter deficito Environmental toxins- aluminumo Genetic component- rare- Neuropathology of AD (underlying brain changes)o Amyloid plaques “senile plaques”- normal with aging but AD patients get a ton o Neurofibrillary tangles- intracellularo Dendritic atrophy- the branches of the neuron shrinko Brain shrinkage- pronouncedo Granulovacuolar degeneration of the neuronso Acetylcholine- neurotransmitter that’s in very short supply The first drug idea- Impact on families and societyo High costo 70% remain at home and need around the clock attentiono Cost