Aging and Psychological Adjustment

SCIENTIFIC and professional interest in older persons increased markedly since the previous (1955) review of this topic. The present review emphasizes a discussion of trends rather than details of specific studies. Emphasis was given the problems of aging by a Congressional Act (August 1958) calling for a White House Conference on Aging in January 1961. The President signed the bill which among its provisions calls for furthering research on aging. This act will no doubt give the field impetus and prestige like that given to the study of child development following the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children in 1909. The Council of State Governments also published its recommendations covering research and training as well as services for the aged (37). Centers for research on aging were established, and several child research institutes expanded their scope to include research on the later years. In some instances research on aging follows from longitudinal studies of development. Research on aging differs from that of early development for several reasons, among them that the daily life content of children and aging adults is so different. Conceivably adult adjustment, despite the difference in content, might involve the same psychological mechanisms as in childhood, but this is by no means clear. Anderson (4) described a developmental model for aging which includes the variables pertinent to adjustment. He emphasized (a) changes with time in the nature of the tasks facing the individual; (b) the necessity for the individual to organize a massive amount of experience of a lifetime; and (c) changes in the organism, particularly in speed and timing, which mediate the environmental task and the experience and habits of the individual.