How Healthy Are We

by Brim, Orville Gilbert; Ryff, Carol D.; Kessler, Ronald C.

• ISBN13: 9780226074757
• ISBN10: 0226074757
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-15
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Childhood, adolescence, even the "twilight years" have been extensively researched and documented. But the vast terrain known as midlifethe longest segment of the life coursehas remained uncharted. How physically and psychologically healthy are Americans at midlife? And why do some experience greater well-being than others?The MacArthur Foundation addressed these questions head-on by funding a landmark study known as "Midlife in the U.S.," or MIDUS. For the first time in a single study, researchers were able to integrate epidemiological, sociological, and psychological assessments, as well as innovative new measures to evaluate how work and family life influence each other.How Healthy Are We? presents the key findings from the survey in three sections: physical health, quality of life and psychological well-being, and the contexts (family, work) of the midlife. The topics covered by almost forty scholars in a wide variety of fields are vast, including everything from how health and well-being vary with socioeconomic standing, gender, race, or region of the country to how middle-aged people differ from younger or older adults in their emotional experience and quality of life. This healththe study measures not only health-the absence of illnessbut also reports on the presence of wellness in middle-aged Americans.The culmination of a decade and a half of research by leading scholars, How Healthy Are We? will dramatically alter the way we think about health in middle age and the factors that influence it. Researchers, policymakers, and others concerned about the quality of midlife in contemporary America will welcome its insights.* Having a good life means having good relationships with others to almost 70% of those surveyed. Less than 40% mentioned their careers.* Reports of disruptive daily stressors vary by age, with young adults and those in midlife experiencing more than those in later adulthood.* Men have higher assessments of their physical and mental health than woman until the age of 60.

Author Biography

Orville Gilbert Brim is the former director of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development.

Carol D. Ryff is a professor of psychology and director of the Institute on Aging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ronald C. Kessler is a professor in the Department of Health Care Policy at the Harvard Medical School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
1 The MIDUS National Survey: An Overview
Orville Gilbert Brim, Carol D. Ryff, and Ronald C. Kessler	1	(36)
I MIDLIFE PERSPECTIVES ON PHYSICAL HEALTH
2 Sex Differences in Health over the Course of Midlife
Paul D. Cleary, Lawrence B. Zaborski, and John Z. Ayanian	37	(27)
3 Socioeconomic Position and Health across Midlife
Michael G. Marmot and Rebecca Fuhrer	64	(26)
4 Social Inequalities in Health and Well-Being: The Role of Relational and Religious Protective Factors Carol
D. Ryff, Burton H. Singer, and Karen A. Palmersheim	90	(34)
5 Health, Well-Being, and Social Responsibility in the MIDUS Twin and Sibling Subsamples
Ronald C. Kessler, Stephen E. Gilman, Laura M. Thornton, and Kenneth S. Kendler	124	(29)
6 The Menopausal Transition and Aging Processes
Alice S. Rossi	153	(52)
II EMOTION, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN MIDLIFE
7 Positive and Negative Affect at Midlife
Daniel K. Mroczek	205	(22)
8 Age and Depression in the MIDUS Survey
Ronald C. Kessler, Kristin D. Mickelson, Ellen E. Walters, Shanyang Zhao, and Lana Hamilton	227	(25)
9 The Quality of American Life at the End of the Century
William Fleeson	252	(21)
10 In Their Own Words: Well-Being at Midlife among High School-Educated and College-Educated Adults
Hazel Rose Markus, Carol D. Ryff, Katherine B. Curhan, and Karen A. Palmersheim	273	(47)
11 The Adaptive Value of Feeling in Control during Midlife
Margie E. Lachman and Kimberly M. Prenda Firth	320	(30)
12 Social Well-Being in the United States: A Descriptive Epidemiology
Corey L.M. Keyes and Adam D. Shapiro	350	(23)
13 Ethnic Conservatism, Psychological Well-Being, and the Downside of Mainstreaming: Generational Differences
Randall Horton and Richard A. Shweder	373	(25)
14 Psychological Well-Being in MIDUS: Profiles of Ethnic/Racial Diversity and Life-Course Uniformity
Carol D. Ryff, Corey L.M. Keyes, and Diane L. Hughes	398	(27)
III CONTEXTS OF MIDLIFE: WORK AND FAMILY EXPERIENCE, NEIGHBORHOOD, AND GEOGRAPHIC REGION
15 Is Daily Life More Stressful during Middle Adulthood?
David M. Almeida and Melanie C. Horn	425	(27)
16 Psychological Well-Being across Three Cohorts: A Response to Shifting Work-Family Opportunities and Expectations?
Deborah Carr	452	(33)
17 Work, Family, and Social Class
Alison Earle and S. Jody Heymann	485	(29)
18 Family Roles and Well-Being during the Middle Life Course
Nadine F. Marks, Larry L. Bumpass, and Heyjung Jun	514	(36)
19 Social Responsibility to Family and Community
Alice S. Rossi	550	(36)
20 Turning Points in Adulthood
Elaine Wethington, Ronald C. Kessler, and Joy E. Pixley	586	(28)
21 Well-Being in America: Core Features and Regional Patterns
Hazel Rose Markus, Victoria C. Plaut, and Margie E. Lachman	614	(37)
List of Contributors	651	(8)
Author Index	659	(16)
Subject Index	675