HDFS 201 LECTURE 9 Factors of Successful Aging What have you done with the resources you have FAR BEYOND financial Bio psycho social spiritual How did you do with what you have Successful aging is different depending on where you started Successful Aging Greater satisfaction than regret Subjective well being Agency Proactivity Optimizing gains Diminishing Compensating losses maintenance focus Uniform multidimensional long gradual trajectory of change more likely to experience successful again Death with dignity ultimate successful aging Factors of Successful Aging Attitudes People who are more optimistic feel their choices make a difference Primary in predicting successful aging Nutrition Exercise Self affirmation Social network opportunities engage in together Destigmatizing adult daycare Formal education the resources they have Infrastructure to promote ability to get together with people places to meet things to People who are better educated apply more knowledge to their life make good choices with Community service Working on projects Giving to others generativity Altruistic actions Intergenerational home communities Good family relationship emotional support Factors of Successful Aging Developmental Goals Financial resources 401k savings retirement Have more opportunities Having a pet something to take care of can be with networks Companionship Caregiver education Longevity Definitional Issues Lifespan the maximum duration of life or the oldest age to which any person lives For humans longest authenticated life is 122 years Average life expectance the age at which half of the people born in a particular year will have died Reflects infant mortality rate disease and changes in technology US Life Expectancies Vary by Sex and Race 79 68 years composite Black males have shortest white females have longest Race seems less important than gender US life expectancy is now ranked 43rd in the world US is ranked 24th in best nations in which to reside Longest is Monaco 89 52 Shortest 3 with life expectancies all under 51 Afghanistan Guinea Biassau and Chad 49 44 Increased of several years this past two years Senescence Aging or senescence is a widespread biological phenomenon that occurs in all higher organisms and in many of the lower ones Its signs usually include Decrease in functional capacities Decreased ability to sense and respond to stimuli Decreased mobility Increased susceptibility to disease injury and predation Reproductive changes Types of Aging Chronological age in years Physiological condition in relation to aging someone is a really old 50 someone who is a really young 70 Social status and cultural beliefs Cognitive abilities reasoning learning ability to plan and care for self intellectual decisions Psychological subjective having a young attitude makes a difference Biological Changes with Age Aging is associated with cells of the body undergoing changes resulting in decreased function degeneration and death Neurons nerve cells are generally irreplaceable Cardiac voluntary muscle immune system and endocrine system cells not easily replaced Require time metabolism umpfh etc Skin digestive tissue red blood cells and white blood cells are easily replaceable You are NOT a new person every 7 years you still have the same neurons and stuff Factors Influencing Species Longevity Relationship between brain weight body weight metabolic rate and longevity Greater brain to body weight ratio is associated with greater longevity blue whale Metabolic rate is inversely proportional to life span hummingbirds vs tortoise This goes with male female thing how males die sooner Longevity Susceptibility genes Longevity genes Biological Theories of Aging Cellular Clock Theory Free Radical Theory Mitochondrial Theory Hormonal Stress Theory Indeterminate growth and fish tales Determined growth gold fish grows to the size of tank humans can only grow so tall Put a salt water fish in the ocean which we don t know everything about A fish that was thought to be extinct gets caught it s probably huge and hella old Some fish species show indeterminate growth that is they do not have a maximum size they can reach They show no signs of aging like reproductive loss or anything They don t age they just get bigger Increases vulnerability to specific diseases or accelerated aging Decreases vulnerability to specific diseases and more likely to live to an older age Family history health education personality and lifestyle also influence life expectancy Maximum times that human cells can divide is about 75 to 80 People age due to cells metabolism produces unstable oxygen molecules free radicals Aging caused by decay of mitochondria oxidative damage Aging in body s hormonal system can lower resistance to stress and increase risks of disease Hayflick Limit maximum number of times you can regenerate human tissue Telomeres do not reproduce get shorter and shorter and more brittle until they are so short that they prevent cellular reproduction Matsen 1014 Ordinary Magic Summary of 50 years of risk resilience research We are predisposed for resilience over risk Resilience arises from ordinary resources and processes Risk Factors It is not possible to prevent all of the known threats to development Thus it is imperative to know how to protect from worst ravages of adversity and how to promote positive development in less than optimal conditions Efficient way to identify people with higher than usual probability of problematic development Genetic risk Genotype and reaction ranges Substance usage issues mental health problems don t always manifest As a practitioner maximize the environment for positive development Exposure to stressful life experiences Events natural or relational abuse neglect broken trust Status indicators of precarious life circumstances Conditions like low SES race poverty Tremendous variability in the ways the lives of persons at risk unfold over time