Assignment #2: Late Adulthood Developmental Interview Project

ASSIGNMENT #2: Developmental Interview Project Focusing on Late Adulthood

Older adults aged 60 and above share valuable personal stories that reveal how historical events, life transitions, and social supports shape aging experiences in human behavior and social environment courses.

This is the second of two developmental interview projects you will complete in this course. Each project focuses on a different stage of development covered in Human Behavior in the Social Environment I, including infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Faculty designed these paired assignments to build progressive skills in applying developmental frameworks across the full lifespan.

For the Final Project, you will interview an individual who is in late or very late adulthood (age 60 or older). You will use the information from this interview to complete a biopsychosocial assessment through a life course perspective. Your analysis should integrate course material and demonstrate your understanding of theories of aging, developmental transitions, and the social environment’s impact across the lifespan. Students often find these conversations deeply rewarding as they connect classroom concepts to real-lived experiences.

Your Final Report Should Include the Following Sections:

1. Narrative

   Provide a descriptive summary of the interview. Include:

   • Demographic details: age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, living arrangement, education, occupation (current or retired), and health status.
   • Major life events or transitions: retirement, grandparenting, health challenges, relocation, bereavement, loss of independence, marriage/divorce, caregiving, volunteer or faith involvement, financial adjustments, or community engagement. Many participants reflect on how these events marked significant shifts in identity and daily routines.
   • Current context: Describe their daily life, routines, relationships, leisure activities, and how they perceive their role or purpose at this life stage.
   • Personal reflections shared: Themes of meaning-making, life review, adaptation to aging, and satisfaction with life accomplishments or regrets.

2. Life Course Perspective

   Interpret the participant’s experiences using the Life Course Perspective:

   • Identify the individual’s cohort (generation) and discuss how being part of this historical period has shaped their worldview, opportunities, and challenges.
   • Examples: Baby Boomers and the rise of dual-income families; the Silent Generation and post-war recovery; aging during the COVID-19 pandemic or rapid technological change. Cohort effects often emerge naturally in interviews and provide powerful context for individual choices.
   • Highlight transitions, trajectories, and turning points in late adulthood (e.g., entering retirement, health decline, widowhood, relocation, caregiving roles, or late-life education).
   • Discuss how timing and sequencing of life events—such as career retirement, loss of a spouse, or becoming a great-grandparent—impact their well-being and adaptation.

3. Person-in-Environment Analysis

   Analyze how the individual functions within their environment:

   • Explore family structure, social supports, and community systems (e.g., senior centers, church, healthcare providers, social clubs, assisted living facilities).
   • Examine influences of socioeconomic status, access to care, community safety, transportation, ageism, and cultural identity. Environmental barriers and resources frequently determine quality of life in later years.
   • Identify protective factors and risks—such as social isolation, financial security, health literacy, and meaningful engagement—that affect their physical and emotional health.

4. Biopsychosocial Model

   Apply the Biopsychosocial Model to assess the individual’s current functioning and quality of life:

   • Biological: Physical health, sensory changes, mobility, chronic illness, medication use, and nutrition.
   • Psychological: Cognitive functioning, emotional well-being, mental health, coping strategies, life satisfaction, and sense of purpose.
   • Social: Family and peer relationships, intergenerational connections, living situation, community engagement, and support networks. Strong social ties consistently emerge as central to resilience in older age.
   • Cultural/Spiritual: Role of faith, spiritual practices, cultural values, traditions, and end-of-life beliefs or preparation.

5. Theoretical Integration

   Throughout the paper, integrate at least three major developmental theories or perspectives relevant to adult and late-life development (e.g., Erikson’s Stage of Ego Integrity vs. Despair, Disengagement Theory, Activity Theory, Continuity Theory, Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, or Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory).

   Discuss:

   • How these frameworks help explain the individual’s experiences, perspectives, and adjustment to aging.
   • How theoretical understanding can inform social work or human services assessment, program design, or interventions that promote dignity, autonomy, and quality of life for older adults. Connecting theory to practice strengthens professional preparation for working with aging populations.

Sample Report Excerpt (Narrative and Theoretical Integration)

The participant, Mr. Rivera, aged 79, grew up during the post-World War II economic boom as part of the Silent Generation. He retired from factory work fifteen years ago and now lives alone in a small apartment after his wife passed away. Daily routines center on morning walks, attending church services, and visiting grandchildren twice weekly.

Major life events included immigrating from Puerto Rico in his twenties, raising four children while working double shifts, and coping with diabetes diagnosed in his sixties. He expresses pride in his family’s achievements yet occasional regret about limited education opportunities in his youth.

Current reflections reveal active meaning-making through faith and family. Mr. Rivera describes feeling “at peace” with his life overall while still setting small goals like learning basic smartphone use.

In applying socioemotional selectivity theory, Mr. Rivera’s deliberate focus on emotionally close relationships rather than expanding new social contacts reflects age-related prioritization of meaningful connections that enhance emotional well-being (Carstensen, 2021 doi:10.1093/geront/gnab116).

Erikson’s concept of ego integrity also appears as he reviews his life with acceptance rather than despair, crediting spiritual beliefs for this perspective. Activity theory further explains his continued engagement in church and family roles as protective against isolation.

These frameworks together illustrate how personal agency and environmental supports foster successful adaptation in late adulthood.

Interview a senior citizen and produce an 8–12 page final report integrating person-in-environment analysis, biopsychosocial assessment, and at least three aging theories to examine developmental transitions in late adulthood.

Learning Materials and References

Carstensen, L. L. (2021) ‘Socioemotional selectivity theory: The role of perceived endings in human motivation’, The Gerontologist, 61(8), pp. 1188–1196. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnab116.

Kim, J., Kim, M. and Park, S.-H. (2021) ‘Predicting ego integrity using prior ego development stages for older adults in South Korea’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(18), p. 9490. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18189490.

Zaidi, A. and Morgan, L. (2021) ‘Active ageing across the life course: Towards a comprehensive approach to prevention’, BioMed Research International, 2021, 6650414. doi: 10.1155/2021/6650414.

Jasielska, A., Pisula, E. and Olszanowska-Kuźmicka, M. (2023) ‘Testing a model of biopsychosocial successful aging based on socioemotional selectivity theory in the second half of life’, International Psychogeriatrics, 35(4), pp. 189–199. doi: 10.1017/S1041610222001090.

Chen, Y., Feeley, T. H. and Servoss, T. J. (2023) ‘Life-course social connectedness: Age-cohort trends in social participation’, PLoS ONE, 18(2), e0282172. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282172.