To explore dimensions of successful aging, 71 men were selected for healthy adjustment and were prospectively studied in young adulthood (average age 20) and reassessed in 32-year and 48-year follow-ups. Despite an increase of medical problems, most men maintained healthy adjustment in early old age. At both follow-ups, successful young adult predictors of favorable overall outcome included good peer social adjustment, an absence of troubled parental discipline, and an absence of immature defensive behaviors when angry. However, young adult factors were more predictive of outcomes in middle age than in early old age, as predictor effect sizes decreased between the first follow-up and the second follow-up 16 years later. Findings support the possibility of both favorable and unfavorable changes in the second half of life that may diminish the impact of some young adult characteristics and family environments on adjustment in early old age.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaltesP. B.MayerK. U.HelmchenH., & Steinhagan-ThiessenE. (1999). The Berlin Aging Study (BASE): Sample, design and overview of measures. In BaltesP. B. & MayerK. U. (Eds.), The Berlin Aging Study: Aging from 70 to 100 (pp. 15–55). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
2.
BarkerD. J. P., & ClarkP. M. (1997). Fetal under-nutrition and disease in later life. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility, 2, 105–112.
3.
BarkerD. J. P.ErikssonJ. G.ForsenT., & OsmondC. (2002). Fetal origins of adult disease: Strength effects and biological basis. International Journal of Epidemiology, 31, 1235–1239. doi: 10.1093/ije/31.6.1235
4.
BenesF. M.TurtleM.KhanY., & FarolP. (1994). Myelinization of a key relay in the hippocampal formation occurs in the human brain during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 477–484. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc. 1994.03950060041004
5.
CohlerB. J.HostetlerA. J., & BoxerA. M. (1998). Generativity, social context and lived experience: Narratives of gay men in middle adulthood. In McAdamsD. P. & de St. AubinE. (Eds.), Generativity and adult development (pp. 265–308). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi: 10.1037/10288-008.
6.
DavisJ. A., & SmithT. W. (1989). General social surveys, 1972–1989 (Codebook for the machine-readable data file). Chicago, IL: National Opinion Research Center.
DiLallaL. F. (Ed.). (2004). Behavior genetics principles: Perspectives in development, personality and psychopathology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi: 10.1037/10684-000
9.
DiRagoA. C., & VaillantG. E. (2007). Resilience in inner city youth: Childhood predictors of occupational status across the lifespan. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 61–70. doi: 10.1007/s10964-006-9132-8
10.
ElderG. H.Jr. (1974). Children of the Great Depression: Social change in life experiences. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
11.
ElderG. H. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69, 1–12. doi: 10.2307/1132065
12.
EndicottJ.SpitzerR. L.FleissJ. L., & CohenJ. (1976). The Global Assessment Scale: A procedure for assessing overall severity of psychiatric disturbance. Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 766–771. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1976.01770060086012
13.
EriksonE. H. (1950/1963). Childhood and society (2nd Ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co.
14.
FloudR.FogelR. W.HarrisB., & HongS. C. (2011). The changing body. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511975912
15.
FogelR. W. (2004). The escape from hunger and premature death, 1700–2100. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511817649
16.
FriedmanH. S., & MartinL. R. (2011). The longevity project. New York, NY: Hudson Street Press.
17.
FukuyamaF. (2011). The origins of political order. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
18.
GottesmanI. I., & GouldT. D. (2003). The endophenotype concept in psychiatry: Etymology and strategic intentions. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 636–645. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.4.636
19.
GrinkerR. R.Sr. (1963). A dynamic story of the homoclite. In MassermanJ. (Ed.), Science and psychoanalysis. New York, NY: Grune and Stratton.
20.
GrinkerR. R.Sr.GrinkerR. R.Jr., & TimberlakeJ. (1962). Mentally healthy young males (homoclites). Archives of General Psychiatry, 6, 405–453 doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1962.01710240001001
21.
GrinkerR. R.Sr., & WerbleB. (1974). Mentally healthy young men (homoclites) 14 years later. Archives of General Psychiatry, 30, 71–74. doi: 10.1001/arachpsyc.1974. 01760110107014
22.
GrinkerR. R.Sr., & WestermeyerJ. F. (1985). Systems theory in the practice of psychiatry. International Journal of Family Psychiatry, 6, 33–43.
23.
HollingsheadA. B., & RedlichF. C. (1958). Social class and mental illness. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. doi: 10.1037/10645-000
24.
KendlerK. S.JaffeeS. R., & RomerD. (Eds.). (2011). The Dynamic genome and mental health. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
25.
KohlbergL. (1968). The child as a moral philosopher. In DiessnerR. & TiegsJ. (Eds.), Notable selections in human development. Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill.
26.
KohlbergL.RicksD., & SnareyJ. (1984). Childhood development as a predictor of adaptation in adulthood. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 110, 91–173.
27.
LeVineR. A., & NewR. S. (Eds.). (2008). Anthropology and Child development: A cross-cultural reader. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.
28.
McAdamsD. P. (2006). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1080/15427609.2006.9683363
29.
RobinsL. N.HelzerJ. E.CroughanJ., & RatcliffK. S. (1981). The NIMH diagnostic interview schedule: Its history, characteristics and validity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 381–389.
30.
RogosaD. (1980). A critique of cross-lagged correlations. Psychological Bulletin, 88(2), 245–258. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.88.2.245
31.
SchaieK. W. (1994). The course of adult intellectual development. American Journal of Psychology, 49, 304–313. doi: 10.1037/0003-066x.49.4.304
32.
StraussJ. S., & CarpenterW. T. (1974). The prediction of outcome in schizophrenia: II. Relationships between predictor and outcome variables. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31(3), 3–42. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1974.01760130021003
33.
VaillantG. E. (1977/1995). Adaptation to life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
34.
VaillantG. E. (1978). Natural history of male psychological health VI: Correlates of successful marriage and fatherhood. American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 653–659.
35.
VaillantG. E. (1979). Natural history of male psychological health: Effects of mental health on physical health. New England Journal of Medicine, 301(23), 1249–1254.
36.
VaillantG. E. (1993). The wisdom of the ego. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
37.
VaillantG. E. (2002). Aging well. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e31803190e0
38.
VaillantG. E. (2003a). Mental health. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1373–1384. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.8.1373
39.
VaillantG. E. (2003b). A 60-year follow-up of alcoholic men. Addiction, 98, 1043–1051. doi: 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2003.00422.x
40.
VaillantG. E., & MilofskyE. (1980). Natural history of male psychological health IX: Empirical evidence for Erikson's model of the life cycle. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1348–1359.
41.
VaillantG. E., & MukamalK. (2001). Successful aging. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 839–847. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.6.839
42.
VaillantG. E., & VaillantC. O. (1990). Natural history of male psychological health, XII: A 45-year study of predictors of successful aging at age 65. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 31–37.
43.
WestermeyerJ. F. (1998). Predictors and characteristics of mental health among men at midlife: A 32-year longitudinal study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 68, 265–273. doi: 10.1037/y0080335
44.
WestermeyerJ. F. (2004). Predictors and characteristics of Erikson's life cycle model among men: A 32-year longitudinal study. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 56, 29–48. doi: 10.2190/3VRW-6YP5-PX9T-H0UH
45.
WhitbourneS. K.SneedJ. R., & SayerA. (2009). Psychosocial development from college through midlife: A 34-year sequential study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 260–271. doi: 10.1037/a0016550
