Free Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood

In:

Submitted By ng559
Words 950
Pages 4
Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies
Nadia Garcia
University of Phoenix
BSHS
325
Cynthia Hebron
March 19, 2014

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies
In this essay I choose to pick case study # 2: Tina is a 45-year old female who’s occupation is a high school teacher with three children, Jackson, Oliver, and Crystal. She is a single parent with three adult children living at home. I portray this family lacking emotional stability among each other. Tina’s enjoys working out and spends most of her time doing so. Tina has a best friend named Ida, she confides and discusses personal issues with her. Michael, who is Tina’s boyfriend for 5 years works as a mentor in a youth program and has managed to spend time motivating young men to leave gangs and finish high school. Michael and Tina enjoy each other’s company even though it is limited by Tina’s dedication to exercise. Tina is refraining herself from having intimate relationship with Michael until she remarries. Michael respects her decision, but feels that she is also emotionally unavailable in their relationship.
The roles that have occurred are: Tina enjoys working out and staying fit, and she does so by running and going to the gym which consumes her life. She has noticed a decline in her abilities at the gym and has increased her sessions to 4 hours a day. Michael has become upset with her excessive workout’s, which leaves her with little to no time to spend with him as a couple. Tina often discusses with her best friend, Ida, the problems with her previous marriage, citing her ex-husband’s dissatisfaction with her appearance and his decision to leave her for the younger woman he had an affair with before they divorced. Since Tina’s ex-husband, was unsatisfied by her appearances he later began having an affair with a much younger woman. Tina feels she should keep her appearances up by working out 4 hours a day, this makes her obsessed with her looks. Having her experienced this divorce has affected her psychologically. Michael is beginning to feel Tina has no time for their relationship, and feels she’s emotionally withdrawn. This is affecting their relationship and Tina is not taking his feelings into consideration. Tina loves Michael, but doubts his motives which means she has trust issues, and feels he might be too old for her although they are the same age.
The immediate unhealthy aspect of her life at this point is that she tends to workout often. Tina feels compelled to exercise above and beyond normal levels which is unhealthy. Compulsive exercisers build their lives around working out and are genuinely distressed if they can't exercise as much as they feel they need to. (Beattie, L. 2013).
This is causing her to have an unhealthy relationship with Michael since they are lacking quality time together. Since her divorce I feel she is trying to fulfill her ex- husband’s needs as she is obsessed with her looks, and trying to looks young again. About one of two marriages ends in divorce (Kornblum & Julian, 2007). Divorce usually leads to a number of difficulties for those involved. “Those who are divorcing face emotional concerns, such as concerns that they have failed, over whether they are able to give and receive love, about a sense of loneliness, over the stigma attached to divorce, about the reactions of friends and relatives” (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p. 513). The divorce has had a major impact to her relationship with her kids since they still live with her and are all adults now. An affair causes a lack of trust on all the hurt parties. Experts say that the children's self -image and self - esteem will be the one that will be greatly disturbed (Santebanes, J., 2010). Tina’s children feel emotionally withdrawn from her too, and still manages to have them at her home even though they seem capable of getting their own place. Even though her kids are adults, they too feel the need of parental guidance and affection from their parents.
In order for Tina, who is middle aged, to have a healthy relationship with everyone who is important in her life is to seek professional help. Seeing a therapist is an option she can choose to better understand herself, and create better relationships among her family and boyfriend. I choose this case study because I can see myself in her shoes just because I’m a single mother of three children ages 10, 11, 1. Having to have experienced the similar experiences as Tina made me realize how I overcame my obstacles. It was not easy at first, it took time to adjust but I am fortunate to have family and God to help me through difficult times in my children’s life as well as my own. In this essay I discussed how family, social, and intimate relationships changed for the person in the case study. I also identified role changes that occurred, and explained the immediate and future effect of healthy or unhealthy habits practiced by the person.

References
Cui, M., & Fincham, F. D. (2010, 09/2010). The Differential Effects of Parental Divorce and Marital Conflict on Young Adult Romantic Relationships. Personal Relationships, 331-343. Retrieved from http://proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com
Sakraida, T. J. (2008). The Effect of Divorce on Stress and Coping of Mid Life Women in Divorce Transition. In (Series Ed.) & (Vol. Ed.), : Vol. 17. Western Journal of Nursing Research, (pp. 869-887). Retrieved from http://proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com
Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social
Environment (8th Ed.). Retrieved from Cengage Learning

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood

...Young and Middle Adulthood Transitions Interview 1 For my first interview I decided to interview myself. I am 35 years old with dark curly hair, hazel green eyes and fair skin. My face is round and symmetrical. I am confident in my own skin and I have an outgoing social personality. I enjoy adventures but get antsy easily. I know how to work a room and engage an audience. I have been in banking for 18 years and recently took on a manger position. In reference to the 5 factor model (Craig and Dunn 2013, p 437) I am still a little emotionally unstable. I am moody at times with a bit of sensitivity, yet I can be relaxed in certain situations and feel emotionally stable. I am very much an extravert who likes to talk and socialize. I have always been open to new things with a wild and creative imagination. I think of myself as warm, friendly, king and sympathetic; I have always been able to sense the emotions of those around me. I am also very dependable, someone who can be counted on in times of need. In regards to Erikson’s stages of development (Craig and Dunn 2013, p 417) I feel I have so much more to contribute to the world. I feel I have spent enough time in self-absorption and need to have more generativity. When I hit my 30’s it really hit me how much more I could do to add value in this world. I started to question my career goals and life aspirations, looking back at what I’ve done and thinking about all the things I could do in the future. Looking...

Words: 1754 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Study

...Young and Middle Adulthood Case Study Holly Regan BSHS/325 February 2, 2015 Mary Carlisle Young and Middle Adulthood Case Study Jackson is a 25-year-old single male still living at home, unemployed and attending rehab. He grew up in a single-parent home with his mother who is a high school teacher. Several events that have taken place in Jackson's life has left him feeling hopeless and confused such as failing to graduate college and his biological father’s absence growing up. The two intimate relationships he had while in high school he withdrew from after asking them both to marry him resulted in him questioning his sexual identity once entering college. Since his car accident, he has been abusing alcohol and prescription painkillers prescribed to him when he suffered cognitive and analytical skill damage. Since Jackson dropped out of college, he has not sought any employment and sits in his room alone most of the day. Jackson’s experiences in his life and relationships indicate lack of trust that contributes to his emotional instability and low self-esteem. “Depression often emerges early in the life course and is consistently shown to be associated with poor self-esteem,” (Gayman, 2011). Jackson grew up in a single parent home with his mother and had no involvement with his biological father. The absence of his father also contributes to his lack of trust in building social and intimate relationships. Liken to this is his shortage of interest in creating...

Words: 933 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies

...and women. The majority of the people assume that once a person gets into a certain age, sex is not an important part of a person life that is if sex is part of that person’s life. When in reality that assumption about sex is not true. The elderly people may not be as wild as young adults when it comes to sexual practice, but they still have the desire to have sex, even though they are into their late eighties. Sex is one of the meaningful aspects of any relationship and this does not eliminate itself from the relationships of elderly people. However, both men and women do suffer some changes in their sexuality as they become older. As for the men one of the main worry’s as they become older is their capacity of reach an erection. In some men, it may take longer and contain more motivation to accomplishing an erection, and even then it may not be as strong as it was in their young years. According to Cherry "Some men are unable to achieve erection at all. This is referred to as impotence. Impotence doesn't only affect elderly men; younger men will also likely suffer this at least once in their lives” (Cherry). The women also go through some of the changes in witch is menopause during the middle adulthood. The menopause is one of the common cause for sexual changes in women as they get older. Cherry states that "following menopause, a woman's vaginal canal may be shortened and thinned and sometimes even becomes smaller all around. Many women also experience a decrease in lubrication"...

Words: 377 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies

...Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies Gloria Cena BSHS 325 September 17, 2015 Marco Esteem Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies There are many changes a person needs to go through during the process of young and middle adulthood. Individuals will usually experience young and middle adulthood between the age range of 23 to 45, but may last up until the age of 50. During this time individuals will begin to establish an independent identity to separate themselves from others. Individuals will also start to attain certain life goals such as a family and dream job. Everyone is different and may experience young and middle adulthood at very different ages. This can be caused by an individual's psychological and environmental factors. Tina's study case is an example of that. Tina is a 45 year old single mother of three adult children. She is divorced, but is in a relationship with a man that is the same age as she is. She is currently having problems with her adult son that has had run ins with the law and is currently participating in a rehab program. Her son resides in her home but is not motivated to look for work or contribute in any way. Tina spends most of her time working out at the gym. Tina cannot see the harm she is causing to herself and those around her. As mentioned before, Tina is divorced. Her husband left her for much younger and attractive females. She has become self conscience about her appearance that she is obsessed with exercising...

Words: 786 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies

...Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies Yoneisha Maple BSHS/325 MAY, 23, 2016 Barbara Kennedy In life we all go through many changes. One of the changes that all of us endure is relationships. From childhood to adulthood we go through different changes and experience different relationships. This can be caused by many environmental and social factors. In the case study about Tina, it was caused by her ex-husband leaving her for a younger woman. Her role changes from early to middle adulthood will be discussed as well as the effects of healthy or unhealthy habits as well. Tina is a 45 year old woman with three children, Jackson, Oliver, and Crystal. Tina’s relationships have changed from young adulthood to middle adulthood. Tina’s three adult children live in her house with her. Tina’s ex-husband left her for a younger more attractive female. So Tina is now very obsessed with keeping her appearance up. She spends many hours at the gym working out, and a lot of time running, obsessing over staying in shape. Tina has not been satisfied with her progress at the gym so she has increased her exercising routine to 4 hours a day, which leaves less time to spend with the man she is dating, Michael. She is so obsessed with exercising and the way she looks it is affecting their relationship. She also spends a lot of time away from Michael, whom she has been dating for 5 years. Michael wants to marry Tina, but has second thoughts because of her lifestyle and the fact that...

Words: 812 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies

...Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies Everyone goes through a stage where something causes a life change in his or her life. Life changes can be an environmental issue or some may go through social issues. This is where I talk about Tina. Case study 3 discussed the life of Tina, a 45-year-old woman with three children. Tina is a high school teacher and she is very committed to the love in her life, that is Michael. Tina seems to love Michael with all of her heart but she lacks in the relationship that they have. He wants more attention from Tina but she is not giving him the attention he wants. The reason for the lack of attention is because of her excessive workout regimen. Tina spends the majority of her time working out and this is something that is an issue in their relationship. Tina has a best friend that she talks to about the problems that she has in the relationship. She feels that Michael may leave her one-day down the line. The feeling that overwhelms her comes from the previous relationship that she had. Tina’s ex husband left her for a younger woman and this was before they got a divorce from one another. This mad Tina feel that no one could be trusted. The confidence she might have had before went away when her ex husband left her for someone else. I believe that Tina did experience a role change. The role changes that Tina has faced came about because of what happen with her ex husband. She felt they she was married to the person she...

Words: 700 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Study

...Young and Middle Adulthood Case Study BSHS/ 325 4/27/2014 Aaron Mills, MSW Among the challenges facing single mothers, a particularly difficult one is how to help children develop “male-positive” attitudes in situations when the parents have broken up and children have no active relationship with the father (Doherty & Craft 2011). This is to give detailed information about the discoveries made on the Jacksons progress so far. It covers information about his close and personal relationship with his mother. It also shows where there has been a change of character that has taken place in the recent past. The other things that this case study clearly shows are both positive and negative consequences resulting from Jackson’s current behavior. Tina, Jackson’s mother, and her boyfriend Michael are the only family members featured in the case study. Michael attempts to help the young man overcome his problems but his attempts have hit a wall. Jackson’s previous girlfriend said that he had problems being loyal to them. They also said that he had poignant problems. It appears as though Jackson does not have acquaintances and that leaves Tina and Michael as his only support system. Jackson began to chang after getting involved in a car accident. His loss of the ability to solve issues and process his thoughts changed his life. The current Jackson is unable to answer queries about his sexuality. Periods of exploration during general identity...

Words: 894 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies

...Young and Middle Adulthood Case Studies Read the following case studies in order to complete the Week Three Individual Assignment. Case Study 1: Jackson Jackson is a 25-year old male who has recently been admitted to a substance abuse program in Chicago, Illinois. He has been arrested several times for possession of a controlled substance but has not served any time in jail. He grew up in a single-parent household with his mother, Tina. Tina, 45, is employed as a high school teacher; his biological father is not involved in his life. Tina’s boyfriend, Michael, often attempts to serve as a father figure to Jackson. Jackson went to college immediately after high school, focused on a degree in chemistry. In high school, he was a good student who earned A’s and B’s in most courses. After a car accident, a slight head injury caused him to lose some cognitive functioning and analytical skills. Jackson started drinking alcohol occasionally with friends during his freshman year of college. He also abused prescription painkillers given to him after the accident. Jackson was in two serious relationships his senior year of high school, with Alice and Beth. He asked both of the girls to marry him, but then recanted. Each of the relationships lasted about 6 months in which each girl complained that Jackson was distant and unable to commit emotionally. Jackson questioned his sexuality his first year in college when he found himself sexually attracted to his roommate Stanley...

Words: 898 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Sudies

...Case Scenario Case Scenario 1 1. Human services can help Sophia’s mother by getting her help for substance abuse. Her mother may not see that she has a problem, but if her daughter is missing school and coming to school dirty then her focus is not on her child. Human services can keep Sophia in foster care until her mother is able to care for her correctly. 2. Sophia’s mother is looking at child protective services as the bad guys for taking away her daughter for the second time. This is painful for her and it makes her resent the help. However it could also work as she realizes that to get her substance abuse and prove that she can be healthy and stable for her daughter. Then her daughter can be returned to her. Case Scenario 2 1. Being a helper for John, the first thing I would do is have a psychological exam done. I would also get as much information from John as possible; I would also attempt to find any family member’s that may be able to offer John a place to stay. Talking to family may offer the helper some insight. It sounds as though John thinks he doesn’t deserve anything better. Maybe he lost his family because he couldn’t provide for them. So he feels he doesn’t deserve to be warm and comfortable. The helper should gain trust by meeting with John often, letting him know that we care for him and want the best for him; the helper should also get him into therapy. 2. How does John outlook about receiving help affect his ability to get his needs-met?...

Words: 459 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Young and Middle Adulthood Case Study

...Later Adulthood Development Report Jessica Peters BSHS/325 September 8, 2014 Mrs. Wagner Through every stage of our lives we experience change, learn how to adopt, and except our new expectations and responsibilities. In later adulthood we shift our focus on coming to terms with the way we lived our lives. We try to not hold any regrets for the decisions we have made and we start to look at life differently. It is important to remember that just because individuals enter the later adulthood life span does not mean they are not capable of doing things. However, for some individuals entering this stage of their life, they may need assistance to ensure they are being taken care of. Coming to a nursing home or living assistance facility for your loved one is a big decision to make and a step in their right direction for their safety and well-being. According to Wolff (2013), “Nowadays, nursing homes not only concentrate on prevention and treatment of chronic diseases and illnesses affecting the elderly, they also take into consideration the quality of life and life satisfaction of their own residents” (p. 151). I am glad to answer your questions and put your concerns at ease. In order to do this I would like to explain a few areas of later adulthood to you, what the individual may experience, and how a nursing home can help them. The first thing we need to discuss is the change and needs of the elder family member. As mentioned before just because the individual is entering...

Words: 1799 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Early and Middle Adulthood Paper

...Early and Middle Adulthood Paper Morgaine Smith PSY280 April 17, 2012 Early to middle adulthood is a time of independence, identity seeking, and lifestyle forming. During this time people strike out on their own, building relationships and establishing social and health-affecting habits. Middle adulthood differs from young adulthood in social needs (although the basic need for socialization remains the same), and represents a shift in attitude about relationships and vocations that moves from fluidity to stability. Health practices are also at work here, with factors such as diet, exercise, and drug use in young adulthood impacting middle adulthood later on. Erikson believed that people need constant contact with others throughout their lives, from birth to death, whether that contact is romantic intimacy or a relationship with friends and family. In romantic relationships, young adults tend to be “serially monogamous” [ (Berger, 2010) ], or remaining emotionally or sexually involved with only one person for a period of time, though the relationship is rarely permanent, and the young adult may have many of these relationships during this stage of his or her life. This is typical for the age group, which is characterized by an unwillingness to commit permanently to a job, a spouse, or even an educational program. Young adults today are markedly different from young adults in the previous generation, in that they marry later and may not start families or enter a permanent...

Words: 1498 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Social Development

...individual can master skills during middle childhood as this is also considered as school age and generally perform task with similar age group peers. However, the formal schooling process that is done when someone attends early adulthood continues to provide the opportunity to an individual so that the self-identity process gets evolved over a period of time. The process of growth occurs from middle childhood through early adulthood while developing competency then going through school adjustments, being able to drive peer relationships and learns to play by rules. Not only does the academic achievements helps an individual to develop self-identity but by schooling and having the right socialistic competency to help an individual to slowly adopt the process of self-identity. The interpersonal relationships get gently developed from childhood to adulthood through a comprehensive process. This developed through having mother-child relationship where an individual child comes across an intimate behaviour from their mother in a form of love and affection. Therefore, the family member’s attachments towards the child drives the necessary behavioural pattern and helps develop the interpersonal relationships with love...

Words: 859 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Paper

...Paper on Changes in Adulthood Amylyn Thomas University of Phoenix Change is a word that is said often but not many realize how much it affects their lives. As people grow, they change in each stage. The changes that occur during early, middle, and late adulthood are physical, emotional, cognitive, and developmental. As people grow, these changes help them to form personalities, and views on life. They go to college, get married, have children of their own, work for many years, and retire. It is smart to remember that change is a part of life and development and without it we do not become the people that they become. The first stage that will be discussed is early adulthood. There are many changes that occur during this stage because this is when the person goes from high school to college which is a new experience. This is the transition into adulthood because they start to think about their future. They decide on the degree that will impact what job field they will go into, start their finical stability and start to develop intimate and professional relationships. The physical aspect of early adulthood is biological aging. Biological aging begins in early adulthood and continues until death. There are many theories to biological aging. One theory is that the existence of aging genes that control the biological changes. These genes can control menopause, gray hair and the determination of body cells. One physical aspect is cardiovascular and repistroy systems...

Words: 1090 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Early and Middle Childhood

...Early and Middle Adulthood Over the course of the lifespan people change daily and change at different paces. Where we come from as well as who we come from, molds us into adults. We just discussed the middle childhood and adolescence phase. In this paper, we will examine the psychological adjustments to aging and the lifestyle that occur within individuals during early and middle adulthood (emerging adulthood), which can be looked at as a separate developmental stage. Social and Intimate Relationships The social and intimate relationships that people experience during early and middle adulthood can change greatly. As I will explain later in this paper, role changes affect these relationships as well. As Erikson has stated in his intimacy versus isolation phase, humans are “social creatures.” The social relationships that people have at 18 will likely be different from those they have at 25. As emerging adulthood takes place, personality changes are evident. Many early and middle adults seek a mixture of education, friendship, and achievement. If this combination is attained, self-esteem will surely improve. For example, I was 19 when I enlisted in the Marine Corps. I had grown up in a small town in Wisconsin and was living in my own “bubble.” I received my first set of station orders and was sent to Iwakuni, Japan. It was exciting but also scary for me to think about being so far away from my hometown friends as well as my family. After I had gotten to Japan...

Words: 1151 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Early and Middle Adultdhhood

...Early and Middle Adulthood S Brooks PSY/280 January 06, 2015 Professor Murray L. Johnson Early and Middle Adulthood When children leave the teen years and grow into early adulthood into middle adulthood there are many changes and challenges one faces during these periods in life. This paper will discuss how intimate and social relationships develop during early and middle adulthood. This paper will also identify the various role changes that transpire during the periods of early and middle adulthood. The paper will also discuss the immediate and future influences of healthy and unhealthy behaviors practiced throughout early and middle adulthood. The transition from teenage years into early adulthood comes with many challenges; some of the challenges involve different aspects. During early adulthood there are many changes that occur, such as physical, cognitive and emotional changes. First the physical change that comes with leaving adolescence and growing into early adulthood. Women have reached their adult height by age 18 and men by age 21. During this time both men and women continue to add body fat and men continue to build muscle mass. Depending on an individual’s up-bringing it will have an affect on one social skills and intimate relationships. Studies show individual’s who’s up-bringing in a lower income environment usually have less expectation of completing school and or maintaining a professional career. It also states that individual in lower income situations...

Words: 1131 - Pages: 5