Adult Development & Life Stages Flashcards

According to continuity theory (Atchley), older adults experiencing life transitions tend to:

Answer: Maintain internal and external structures consistent with their past

Continuity theory proposes that older adults adapt to change by preserving the same patterns of thinking, behavior, and relationships they developed earlier in life.

Which of the following ANSA domains is MOST directly related to assessing an adult's developmental strengths?

Answer: Resilience and natural supports

The ANSA's resilience and natural supports domain directly targets developmental strengths such as coping capacity, social connections, and personal resources.

A 42-year-old client reports questioning the meaning of their career and relationships. From a developmental perspective, this MOST likely represents:

Answer: A normative midlife transition involving life reassessment

Questioning meaning in career and relationships in the 40s is a hallmark of the normative midlife transition documented across developmental theories.

In the context of ANSA assessment, how does understanding 'off-time' life events (events occurring earlier or later than socially expected) inform clinical practice?

Answer: Off-time events may increase stress and require additional support planning

Off-time life events (e.g., early widowhood, late parenthood) can disrupt expected social support and increase stress, which clinicians must account for in ANSA care planning.

Which finding would MOST warrant a higher ANSA rating in the 'social functioning' domain for an adult in late adulthood?

Answer: Complete social isolation with no community contact

Complete social isolation with no community contact represents a significant functional impairment warranting a higher (more severe) ANSA rating in social functioning.

Paul Baltes' lifespan development perspective emphasizes that development across the adult years is BEST characterized as:

Answer: Multidirectional, involving both gains and losses

Baltes proposed that development is multidirectional—involving both growth and decline across different domains at different points in the lifespan.

When an ANSA clinician identifies that a 50-year-old client has successfully navigated multiple life transitions (job loss, divorce, illness), this MOST directly informs the assessment of:

Answer: Baseline resilience and adaptive coping strengths

Successfully navigating multiple adversities demonstrates resilience and adaptive coping, which are key strengths the ANSA explicitly measures and incorporates into care planning.