The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

The extension of life expectancy has made possible the life cycle transitions we have come to associate with middle and later years. Because more and more Americans now live to see middle age, old age, and even advanced old age, these stages of life have been democratized. They have been made accessible to a broad cross-section of the population, rather than to only a select few. In conjunction with more generational independence of living arrangements, longer lifetimes have given rise to the empty nest followed by a postmarital period of solitary living. Changes in labor force participation patterns have meant that older persons today experience a relatively new life-style and life stage called retirement.

The topic of change during adulthood is receiving increased attention from social and behavioral scientists, as well as from the general public. This article describes and evaluates the contributions of four types of models designed to further our understanding of the causes and consequences of change during middle and later life: developmental models, life event models, adult socialization models, and integrated models that incorporate elements of multiple perspectives. Special attention is devoted to the recent and appropriate shift from an emphasis upon change as crisis to the more neutral view of change as transition. Two issues are suggested as critical to any useful model of change during middle and later life. First, such models must incorporate recognition of the importance of both individual and social factors for understanding the causes and consequences of change. Second, such models must identify the factors that place individuals at risk for adaptive problems as a result of change.

Until recently, social scientists have paid more attention to parent-child relations at the early end of the age continuum: young children and their young-adult parents. Many of the same issues and approaches can be applied to the parallel study of parent-child relations at the later end of the age continuum, adults and their parents, and people in early old age and their parents. Generation gaps may be of the same order of magnitude, whether this term refers to value differences or to conflicts. Helping and communication patterns can be examined at both age poles, as can attitudes and feelings. The issue of geographic closeness does not usually apply to minor children who reside in the same place as their parents, but is a salient issue in later years.

The transition to middle age can simultaneously be a time of peak performance and a time of psychological setbacks in the lives of men. In the process of preparing for the second half of life, the man must deal with health issues, his imminent death, self-assessment, his sex role, and his responsibilities to future generations. The working through of these tasks is reflected in the work, family, and social lives of men at this stage. At the work place the man must either accept his failure to achieve his long-term goals or he must decide if having reached his goals has been worth the effort. Many men, as a result, disengage from the work place as their major source of personal fulfillment. On the other hand, interpersonal relations begin to come to prominence at the middle-age transition. The marital bond and sense of social connectedness felt by the individual become more integrally related to personal well-being at this time. The policy makers and corporate enterprises so entwined in the lives and well-being of men need to take into account these issues of middle age in order to ease the transition and to avoid the necessity of making a painful choice between occupational and interpersonal fulfillment.

The shapes of women's lives have changed over the twentieth century as a result of declining fertility, extended longevity, new life-styles in marriage and family formation, and increased attachment to the labor force. Midlife role transitions for women are diverse and dependent upon earlier life events related to marriage, child bearing, and work. Trends such as the postponement of marriage and child bearing, divorce and separation, and early career entry have changed the traditional family life cycle. Low fertility among women with patterns of early childbirth has led to an extended empty nest period and to increased labor participation at midlife. All these trends point to the continuities and discontinuities in individual women's lives and in the experiences of different age cohorts of women over time. The future prospects for today's middle-aged women are viewed in terms of both their predictable and variable features.

Recent studies of American families indicate that pluralism continues to be characteristic of American society. Since a great number of older Americans are either immigrants or the children of immigrants, and many others have spent much of their lives in ethnic communities, understanding the elderly in American society requires insight into ethnic values and family patterns. The foundation for intergenerational relationships is laid early in the family life cycle as children are growing up. Ethnic family structure and socialization of children are closely related to intergenerational interaction in adulthood. Extended family relationships in turn influence social participation outside the family throughout the life cycle and older people's responses to the later life transitions of retirement, widowhood, and decline in health.

An analysis of national data collected in 1957 and 1976 reveals that older black Americans' use of their informal support networks and prayer in times of distress is distinct from that of older white Americans. Black-white disparities in income, education, and widowhood were large and appeared to widen from middle to late life. Blacks, in coping with distress, drew from a more varied pool of informal helpers than whites, both in middle and late life, and were more versatile in substituting these helpers one for another as they approached old age. Whites, in contrast, were more likely to limit help seeking to spouses in middle life and to replace spouses with a single family member as they approached old age. Blacks were much more likely than whites to respond to worries with prayer, but prayer, as a coping reaction among blacks, declined between 1957 and 1976. The role of the special help-seeking model of older blacks in their adaptation to old age is discussed.

The transition to grandparenthood is presented as a stage in the family life cycle in which meaning comes from outside the boundaries of the original nuclear family unit through alliances initiated and produced by offspring. A demographic picture of grandparenthood is presented that shows that the transition is likely to occur in middle age and to overlap less with active parenting than was the case in the past, and that the ages of both grand-parents and new parents are important variables affecting transition. Past research has focused on grandparenthood as a role and has largely ignored the effects of family systems on role performance. A systems perspective shows that the grandparent-grandchild bond is initially mediated by the parents. As time passes, however, the bond becomes more direct, although it continues to be negotiated within the extended family system, which is always in flux. Focus on role has obscured the nature of the transition to grandparenthood and the years immediately following it, viewing it as an extension of parenting and not characteristic of real grandparents.

Three major trends affecting family life are an increase in households composed of unrelated persons, an increase in single-parent families, and an increase in divorce. These trends indicate the need for forms of living arrangement other than the traditional nuclear family, especially to confront two major sets of problems faced by many mid-life women: economic and socioemotional. Two prototype living arrangements—“families”—are proposed: (1) adaptation of the concept of the halfway house and (2) utilization of a cooperative living arrangement that has operated successfully with older persons. Since these prototypes have been somewhat successful in dealing with primary group environments of the young and the elderly, such models might be adapted on an experimental basis for midlife women who need added social supports and an increased array of choices from which to plan new directions in their lives.

The process of retirement begins with attitudes toward retirement, retirement policies, and factors in the decision to retire. Currently, high levels of desire for retirement and poor health cause most retirements to occur at or near the minimum age for retirement. The retirement transition has varying effects, depending on how the individual arrives at retirement. Those who retire voluntarily have little or no difficulty adjusting. Those who are forced out by mandatory retirement policies tend to be dissatisfied at first, but eventually they adjust. And those who retire because of poor health are understandably the most dissatisfied, although retirement improves health for many of them. Retirement itself has no predictable negative effect on physical health, selfesteem, or life satisfaction. It does tend to reduce activity level. A good adjustment in the retirement years depends on having a secure income, good health, meaningful activities and high marital satisfaction. Given income and health, most retired persons adjust well. However, retirement income systems and health care financing systems in America are losing ground, and gaps in coverage are widening. This situation poses a serious threat to the future of retirement.

Recent societal trends have led to simpler divorces, a growing acceptance of divorce, greater personal freedom, and increased gainful employment for women, as well as a general weakening of institutional norms. The occurrence of divorce at mid-life brings losses and adjustments. Divorce at older ages causes similar losses and adjustments, as well as others associated with old age. In addition, the elderly experience divorce indirectly through the divorces of their children. Beyond divorce or widowhood, there are problems associated with remarriage that arise from age, previous marital status, sex ratios, geographic residence, and kinship relationships. The success or failure of a second marriage depends on many factors and is affected by a lack of institutionalized norms fitting the situation. As expectations change regarding the permanency of marriage, and as the family adapts to changes in its structure, desirable goals will include the establishment of normative behavior patterns for the transitions from married, to divorced or widowed, to remarried; clarification of roles and relationships; ways of easing role transitions; and help in the preservation of long-term marital relationships.

Mental health problems of middle and late life are the focus of this article. Among topics discussed are adjustment reactions to mid-life, late-life transitions, and stressful life events. Emerging mental health problems during this period are considered as a function of increased stress that is not mediated by social supports or effective strategies in coping. Sex differences in adjustive tasks during mid-life and the later years are presented. The impact of family dynamics on mental health is considered. Age-related differences in specific types of mental disorders, including organic problems, schizophrenia, and depression, are reviewed. Sexual problems, substance abuse, and psychosomatic problems are reviewed in the context of clinical problems during middle and late life. Diversity and individual differences in responses to the stresses of life transitions are emphasized while psychosocial strengths of older persons that promote mental health are portrayed.

In spite of some recent increases in services for bereaved persons, the availability of such services is minimal. The process of grieving itself takes place in time in several ways: the extent to which the death is sudden, expected, and timely; the passage of time from the beginning of anticipatory grieving before the actual death through the diminishing effects of the loss over an extended period of time; and the age and stage in life of the grieving persons. During the grieving process the survivors often develop physical and health problems, face psychological and emotional distress, encounter difficulties with social relationships, and must cope with numerous practical issues. The subsequent adjustment of widows and widowers appears to be related to the extent to which there had been the opportunity for open communication. Whether widows fare better than widowers after the death is uncertain; research has provided conflicting results and equally conflicting interpretations of the results.

All transitions are associated with change. People, basically conservative by nature, tend to resist change. Any intervention needs to consider that reactions to a transition are affected by prior experience, by the way transitions are viewed in an individual's social network, and by what learning opportunities are available. Responses can be viewed as typical under the circumstances, with rites of passage and helpers available to guide people in coping; or they can be viewed as a result of deficits in the individual for which treatment is prescribed. To facilitate change, seen as an expected event, individuals need to be linked to resources and information. They need role models and legitimation of their feelings. Learning, at such times of stress, seems to be facilitated by the availability of a peer, in the sense that the helper has had a similar experience. This help is available in mutual help groups. However, many kinds of help need to be available. The goal of any help is to empower the individual to cope in ways that promote growth and change.