Adult Lifespan Development and Optimal Mental Health
Christiane A. Hoppmann1 and Denis Gerstorf2
1
University of British Columbia, Department of Psychology, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z4, Canada; phone: ++1 (604) 822-8428; [email protected].
2
Humboldt University Berlin, Institute of Psychology, Rudower Chaussee 18, 12489 Berlin,
Germany; phone: +49-(0)30-2093-9422; fax: +49-(0)30-2093-9351; [email protected].
Prepared for Encyclopedia of Mental Health.
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 2
Biographies
Dr. Christiane Hoppmann is an assistant professor in Health Psychology at the University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Hoppmann heads the Health and Adult Development Lab
in the UBC Psychology Department and is also a core member of the UBC Center for Hip Health
and Mobility. Her research is currently funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the
Vancouver Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and
the Australian Research Council. She has received a Canada Research Chair (2013), a Michael
Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award (2012), the Springer Early Career
Achievement Award in Research on Adult Development and Aging from the American
Psychological Association (2012), the Margaret and Paul Baltes Early Career Award from the
Gerontological Society of America (2012), and a Peter Wall Early Career Scholar Award from
the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (2011). Hoppmann’s research examines how key
psychological factors such as social relationships and goals contribute to the successful mastery
of challenges and foster successful development across the adult lifespan. Her projects involve
in-depth investigations of everyday processes using novel daily life assessments (‘timesampling’) and track how such everyday life processes accumulate over time to manifest in longterm health outcomes.
Dr. Denis Gerstorf is a professor of developmental psychology at the Humboldt University
Berlin, Germany. He also holds appointments as Research Director for Lifespan Psychology at
the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) Berlin, Germany and as Adjunct Professor
of Human Development and Family Studies at the Pennsylvania State University, State College,
PA in the US. Over the past five years, his research has been funded by agencies in Germany
(e.g., the German Research Council), the US (NIA), Canada (e.g., the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research), and Australia (the Australian Research Council), worth several million US
Dollar. Gerstorf is the recipient of the Baltes Foundation Early Career Contributions Award in
Behavioral and Social Gerontology from the Gerontological Society of America in 2011 and the
Springer Early Career Achievement Award in Research in Adult Development and Aging from
the American Psychological Association, Division 20 Adult Development and Aging in 2010.
Denis Gerstorf is a lifespan developmental psychologist with a general research interest in better
understanding heterogeneity and differential development across adulthood and old age. His
specific research foci include (i) differentiating the effects of processes related to age, pathology,
and mortality in late-life development, (ii) identifying cross-domain linkages between cognitive
functioning, personality, and social integration as well as its precursors and consequences, (iii)
examining everyday life fluctuations in psychological functioning as an additional tool in the
study of lifespan development, and (iv) studying dyadic interrelations in everyday life and
developmental trajectories among spouses across the adult lifespan.
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 3
Abstract
Unprecedented increases in years to adult life draw attention to the nature and correlates
of mental health across adulthood and into old age. In this entry, we pursue three aims: First, we
advocate for a comprehensive description of mental health that takes into account the multifacetedness of subjective experiences across different life phases. Second, we introduce key
psychological mechanisms that shape mental health across the adult lifespan. Third, we extend
individual-centered approaches by demonstrating how mental health shapes and is shaped by
other co-developing individuals. We conclude by alluding to key challenges that this area of
research has to confront in the future.
Keywords: mental health; quality of life; well-being; lifespan psychology; aging; social
relationships; self-regulation
Cross-references: 36. Coping with Stress; 38. Emotional Regulation; 41. Happiness: Subjective
Well Being; 47. Optimism, Motivation, and Mental Health; 50. Resilience; 74. Marriage,
Romantic Relationships & Mental Health; 99. Mental Health and Aging; 101. Demography and
Mental Health; 104. Emotion and Aging; 105. Extended Family Ties; 117. Social Support
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 4
Adult Lifespan Development and Mental Health
Introduction and Historical Context
Western societies have witnessed historically unprecedented increases in life
expectancies over the past century, resulting in a substantial number of years added to life for
large segments of the population and, importantly, also in profound increases in the number of
years that are shared with key relationship partners such as spouses, children, grandchildren, or
friends (Coall & Hertwig, 2010; Olshansky et al., 2002). Moving beyond quantitative accounts
of this tremendous accomplishment inevitably requires that close attention be paid to how
individuals experience these added years in terms of more qualitative accounts such as mental
health.
A comprehensive understanding of mental health across the adult lifespan inherently
depends on how mental health is defined. Along with propositions from lifespan scholars, this
entry supports the view that it is time to move away from deficit-oriented definitions of mental
health that focus on an absence of mental illness to facilitate a better understanding of positive
aspects of mental health and subjective well-being (Ryff & Singer, 2000). By embracing a more
positive notion of mental health than what has traditionally been done, lifespan researchers do
not mean to disregard the impact of major life events, traumatic stress, or losses that have been
linked to poor mental health and that may manifest in depressive symptoms or anxiety (Brown &
Harris, 1989). Instead, the hope is to open the floor for a broader conception of mental health that
encompasses key components of positive emotional experiences, life satisfaction, personal
growth, or interpersonal flourishing (Ryff, 1995).
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 5
Although different indicators of mental health and well-being follow somewhat different
trajectories, there is substantial evidence that well-being is on average relatively well maintained
until individuals reach their 70ies and 80ies. In fact, well-being often even increases in old age
despite many age-related losses in other domains of functioning (Charles, Reynolds, & Gatz,
2001; Kunzmann, Little, & Smith, 2000; Mroczek & Kolarz, 1998). This phenomenon has been
interpreted as an illustration of the adaptive potential of older adults and has fueled important
discussions about the mechanisms that contribute to mental health across the adult lifespan.
Psychological Mechanisms Contributing to Mental Health Across the Adult
Lifespan
There are a number of different mechanisms that offer insights into how individuals may
be able to optimize their mental health across the adult lifespan. First, lifespan developmental
and well-being theories converge in the idea that goals act as guideposts for mental health and
well-being because they are subjective standards that individuals use to evaluate how they are
doing in life (P. B. Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 1998; Brandtstaedter & Rothermund,
2002; Diener & Fujita, 1995). Personal goals are desired states of the self in the future that often
have an age-specific content. What makes them interesting from a lifespan perspective on mental
health is that they take into account that adults may be working on different tasks during
different times of their life (e.g. making a career in midlife; staying socially engaged in old age).
Despite these differences in goal contents, goals play a similar role in shaping happiness, wellbeing, and mental health across adulthood because they form the basis for subjective evaluations
of whether an adult is moving in a desired direction (Austin & Vancouver, 1996; Nurmi &
Salmela-Aro, 2006). Notably, goals not only contribute to positive mental health outcomes, but
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 6
they can also reveal constraints that draw attention to the importance of strategies to make the
best out of limited resources.
Second, models of self-regulation, which describe the processes governing goal pursuit
and adjustment, recognize the fact that resources such as time and energy are always limited. As
a result, individuals across the adult lifespan have to make important choices about which goals
to pursue and which goals to let go (Heckhausen, Wrosch, & Schulz, 2010). The motivational
theory of lifespan development lays out a set of orchestrated strategies that conjointly help
individuals move towards their most important goals or let go of goals that are no longer
feasible, thereby contributing to a maintenance of well-being. To illustrate, individuals who
experience increased functional limitations may let go of less central goals such as keeping a
beautiful garden, in order to retain autonomy in goal domains that they cherish, for example
meeting friends (M. M. Baltes, 1996; Johnson & Barer, 1997). In a similar vein, people adjust
their goals in response to resource losses by altering aspiration levels. For example, someone
who used to have the goal of having a beautiful front yard may instead focus on growing flowers
in the window sill (Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995).
Although age represents a frequently used metric in lifespan research, there are also
theoretical models proposing that perceptions about future time may be more meaningfully
linked to mental health and well-being than chronological age per se (Carstensen, Mikels, &
Mather, 2006). Specifically, Socioemotional Selectivity Theory proposes that a recognition that
future time is limited rather than open-ended may prompt motivational shifts that lead
individuals to an increased prioritization of socio-emotional goals and to giving preference to
familiar social partners, thereby maximizing well-being (Carstensen et al., 2006; Carstensen et
al., 2011). Recent extensions of this model such as the model of Strength and Vulnerability
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 7
Integration (Charles, 2010) broaden this notion by pointing to the important role of resource
limitations for older adults’ ability to regulate negative emotions and optimize their well-being.
Importantly, examining the psychological mechanisms that contribute to mental health across the
adult lifespan offer important insights into factors that may be amenable to interventions that
foster mental health.
Social Contextual Factors Shape Mental Health Across the Adult Lifespan
Most people think of mental health as an individual-level accomplishment, which makes
sense given the prominent role that goals and cognitive evaluations often play in shaping mental
health and well-being. Yet, there is also an increasing recognition that mental health and wellbeing wax and wane over time in association with important relationship partners such as spouses
(Hoppmann, Gerstorf, Willis, & Schaie, 2011; Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Shema, 2007). For
example, increases in functional limitations may not only lead to increases in depressive
symptoms in the spouse experiencing the problem, but also in the partner who takes care of him
or her. In line with this observation, development has been described as being driven by a
“dialectic dynamism” (M. M. Baltes & Silverberg, 1994, p.64) between independence and agency
on the one hand and dependency and affiliation on the other hand (see also Magnusson & Cairns,
1996). It therefore seems timely to extend individual-focused lifespan models of mental health to
integrate both individual and social aspects (Berg & Upchurch, 2007). For example, it has been
proposed that although personal goals may shape mental health and well-being at the level of the
individual, they are frequently shared with other people and pursued in a social life context, thus
requiring coordinative efforts between co-developing persons (P. B. Baltes & Staudinger, 1996).
Furthermore, it is important to recognize that social partners influence goal-relevant means,
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 8
which draws attention to the specific social factors that may hamper or facilitate goal progress
across the adult lifespan (M. M. Baltes & Carstensen, 1998). Finally, research on collaborative
problem solving and dyadic coping have provided insights into the conditions under which two
individuals might be able to accomplish what might not be possible alone (Berg & Strough, 2011;
DeLongis & Holtzman, 2005). Recognizing the important role of social factors in shaping mental
health across the adult lifespan certainly has implications for interventions, but it also pushes the
field to extend common notions of mental health towards an inclusion of social indicators of
mental health such as interpersonal flourishing (Ryff & Singer, 2000).
Future Directions
There are a variety of issues related to mental health across the adult lifespan that demand
further attention and that need to be tackled to move the field forward. For example, one
important question to ask when examining longitudinal changes in mental health as well as when
looking at cross-sectional age-group comparisons pertains to the issue of whether commonly
used instruments actually measure the same thing across the adult lifespan. For example, several
widely used assessment tools such as the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale
(CES-D; Radloff, 1977) may not only measure depressive symptoms but may in fact also capture
symptoms of other health problems, thereby overestimating depressive symptoms in older adults
(Helmchen et al., 1999). Furthermore, commonly used affect scales like the Positive and
Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) include a relatively large
number of high arousal positive and negative states. Those high arousal items (e.g., excited) may
not adequately capture older adults’ affective states, thereby making it difficult to compare affect
ratings across age groups (Roecke, Li, & Smith, 2009).
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 9
Second, despite some evidence that well-being and mental heath may be relatively well
maintained until individuals reach their 70ies or even 80ies, there is also an increasing
recognition that this somewhat rosy picture might not hold when older adults do not have the
resources to cope with stress and regulate their negative emotions (Charles, 2010) or when they
are approaching the end of their lives (Gerstorf et al., 2010).
Finally, the verdict is out as to whether previous research on age-related differences in
well-being which so far points to higher levels of well-being in old age might in fact reflect
cohort–specific phenomena. Hence, it remains to be seen if the aging Baby Boomers will be as
happy when entering old age as previous cohorts of older adults (Schilling, 2005; but see Sutin et
al., 2013).
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 10
References
Austin, J. T., & Vancouver, J. B. (1996). Goal constructs in psychology: Structure, process, and
content. Psychological Bulletin, 120, 338-375.
Baltes, M. M. (1996). The many faces of dependency in old age. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Baltes, M. M., & Silverberg, S. B. (1994). The dynamics between dependency and autonomy:
Illustrations across the life span. In D. L. Featherman, R. M. Lerner & M. Perlmutter
(Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (Vol. 12, pp. 41-90). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Baltes, P. B., Lindenberger, U., & Staudinger, U. M. (1998). Life-span theory in developmental
psychology. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 10291143). New York: Wiley.
Baltes, P. B., & Staudinger, U. M. (1996). Interactive minds: Life-span perspectives on the
social foundation of cognition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Berg, C. A., & Strough, J. (2011). Problem solving across the life span. In K. Fingerman, C. A.
Berg, T. Antonnuci & J. Smith. (Eds.), Handbook of life-span psychology (pp. 239-267).
New York: Springer.
Berg, C. A., & Upchurch, R. (2007). A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with
chronic illness across the adult life span. Psychological Bulletin, 133(6), 920-954.
Brandtstaedter, J., & Rothermund, K. (2002). The life-course dynamics of goal pursuit and goal
adjustment: A two-process framework. Developmental Review, 22, 117-150.
Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. O. (1989). Life events and illness. New York, NY US: Guilford
Press.
Carstensen, L. L., Mikels, J. A., & Mather, M. (2006). Aging and the intersection of cognition,
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 11
motivation and emotion. In J. Birren & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology
of aging (pp. 343-362). San Diego: Academic Press.
Carstensen, L. L., Turan, B., Scheibe, S., Ram, N., Ersner-Hershfield, H., Samanez-Larkin, G.
R., et al. (2011). Emotional experience improves with age: Evidence based on over 10
years of experience sampling. Psychology & Aging.
Charles, S. T. (2010). Strength and vulnerability integration: A model of emotional well-beeing
across adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 1068-1091.
Charles, S. T., Reynolds, C. A., & Gatz, M. (2001). Age-related differences and change in
positive and negative affect over 23 years. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
80, 136-151.
Coall, D. A., & Hertwig, R. (2010). Grandparental investment: Past, present, and future.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33, 1-19.
DeLongis, A., & Holtzman, S. (2005). Coping in context: The role of stress, social support, and
personality in coping. Journal of Personality 73(6), 1-24.
Diener, E., & Fujita, F. (1995). Resources, personal strivings, and subjective well-being: A
nomothetic and idiographic approach. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 68,
926-935.
Gerstorf, D., Ram, N., Mayraz, G., Hidijat, M., Lindenberger, U., Wagner, G. G., et al. (2010).
Late-life decline in well-being across adulthood in Germany, the United Kingdom, and
the United States: Something is seriously wrong at the end of life. Psychology & Aging,
25, 477-485.
Heckhausen, J., & Schulz, R. (1995). A life-span theory of control. Psychological Review, 102,
284-304.
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 12
Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C., & Schulz, R. (2010). A motivational theory of life-span
development. Psychological Review, 117, 32-60.
Helmchen, H., Baltes, M. M., Geiselmann, B., Kanowski, S., Linden, M., Reischies, F. M., et al.
(1999). Psychiatric illness in old age. In P. B. Baltes & K. U. Mayer (Eds.), The Berlin
Aging Study (pp. 167-196). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hoppmann, C., Gerstorf, D., Willis, S. L., & Schaie, K. W. (2011). Spousal interrelations in
happiness in the Seattle Longitudinal Study. Developmental Psychology, 47, 1-8.
Johnson, C. L., & Barer, B. M. (1997). Life beyond 85 years: The aura of survivorship. New
York: Springer.
Magnusson, D., & Cairns, R. B. (1996). Developmental science: Toward a unified framework. In
R. B. Cairns , G. H. Elder, & E. J. Costello, (Eds.), Developmental science (pp. 7–30).
New York: Cambridge University Press
Mroczek, D. K., & Kolarz, C. M. (1998). The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A
developmental perspective on happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
75(5), 1333-1349.
Nurmi, J.-E., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2006). What works makes you happy: The role of personal
goals in life-span development. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.),
A life worth living: Contributions to positive psychology (pp. 182-199). New York:
Oxford University Press.
Olshansky, J. S., Hayflick, L., & & Carnes, B. A. (2002). Position statement on human aging.
Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 57, 292-297.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the
general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.
Lifespan Development and Mental Health 13
Röcke, C., Li, S.-C., & Smith, J. (2009). Intraindividual variability in positive and negative
affect over 45 days: Do older adults fluctuate less than young adults? Psychology and
Aging, 24, 863-878.
Ryff, C. D. (1995). Psychological well-being in adult life. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 4, 99-104.
Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (2000). Interpersonal flourishing: A positive health agenda for the new
millennium. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 30-44.
Schilling, O. K. (2005). Cohort- and age-related decline in elder's life satisfaction: is there really
a paradox? European Journal of Ageing, 2, 254-263.
Strawbridge, W. J., Wallhagen, M. I., & Shema, S. J. (2007). Impact of spouse vision
impairment on partner health and well-being: A longitudinal analysis of couples.
Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 62B(5),
S315-S322.
Sutin, A. R., Terracciano, A., Milaneschi, Y., An, Y., Ferrucci, L., & Zonderman, A. B. (2013).
The effect of birth cohort on well-being: The legacy of economic hard times.
Psychological Science, 24(3), 379-385.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures
of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 54, 1063-1070.
Wrosch, C., Heckhausen, J., & Lachman, M. E. (2000). Primary and secondary control strategies
for managing health and financial stress across adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 15,
387-399.