Human Development from Middle Childhood to Middle Adulthood

Lea Pulkkinen, PhD, is Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. For 40 years, she has conducted a longitudinal study on personality and social development. Her interest has focused on the continuity of positive and problem behaviors over time, and transformation of findings into policy for improving the quality of life in childhood and adulthood.

List of figures

List of tables

List of boxes

Preface

PART I: Introduction to the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development

Chapter 1: How the longitudinal study began








A historical context for the study of aggression



Positive behavior in an impulse control model and the goals of the study





The search for alternatives to aggression



The impulse control model



The goals of the longitudinal study




Research conditions in Finland and in the longitudinal study



Chapter 2: The execution of the longitudinal study








The research sample and the major waves of data collection



Attrition and the representativeness of the sample



Additional data collections



Assessment methods





Peer nomination and teacher rating



Personal interview



Self-reports and other methods




Data analysis



Chapter 3: Reflections on the research process








The evaluation of choices



Recommendations for launching a longitudinal study



What is development?



PART II: The development of personality and psychological functioning

Chapter 4: Theoretical frameworks for the study of socioemotional development








From cognitive control of impulses to self-control



Updated framework





The model for the Unfolding of Socioemotional Behavior



Self-regulation and executive functions



Towards cumulative theoretical reasoning




Three layers of personality for organizing research findings



Chapter 5: The person as social actor








Questions to be answered



Socioemotional behavior in childhood and adolescence





Agreement between informants



2 Continuity in socioemotional behavior



The person-situation controversy




Children grow and adult styles of life emerge





The two-dimensional framework across generations



The unfolding of the styles of life from age 8 to 27



The developmental background of the styles of life



A person-oriented approach to personal styles at age 27



Personality profiles at ages 33 to 50




Maturation, adjustment, or growth in adult personality



Childhood socioemotional behaviors as predictors of adult personality characteristics





Roots of the personality profiles and the clusters of personal styles



The roots of adult agreeableness and continuity in aggression



Paths from childhood socioemotional behavior to adult personality





Chapter 6: The person as motivated agent








The transition to adulthood





Age-stratified or individualistic transitions?



Life changes in early adulthood



Patterns and timing of adult transitions




The length and timing of one’s education





The structure of education



Predictors of the choice of education



"Off-time" education and other post-comprehesive educational trajectories




Goals and values





Common elements in the life structure of adults



Values in middle age



Individual life structures and unifying life themes





Chapter 7: The person as autobiographical author and an "experiencer" of life








A holistic approach to personality



Self-reflections





Identity formation



Personal control over one’s own life



Optimism and self-esteem




Turning points





A study of turning points



Individual differences in the experience of turning points



A qualitative analysis of turning points





Chapter 8: Personality and psychological functioning








Personality and well-being





The concept of mental well-being



Continuity in well-being



The personality traits associated with mental well-being




The model for personality and psychological functioning



Explanations for the associations between personality traits and psychological functioning



PART III: The development of social functioning

Chapter 9: Social development and social functioning








Conceptual approaches to social functioning



The spheres of life



Processes in social functioning



Chapter 10: Problems in social functioning








Antisocial development





Antisocial behavior



From aggression to antisocial behavior



Proactive and reactive aggression as predictors of criminal offending




Accumulation of problems





Multi-problem predictors of problem behaviors
Dynamic processes in the accumulation of problems
Continuity from risk factors to social functioning problems




Offender groups compared





Offender groups



Differences in personality



Social background



Life success of the offender groups in adulthood



Conclusions and suggestions for prevention





Chapter 11: Health behavior








Substance use





The start and continuity of the use of alcohol



Problem drinking in middle age



Socioemotional characteristics associated with drinking



Social backgrounds of the use of alcohol



Smoking cigarettes




Health risks





Health in early adulthood



The predictors of accidents and impairment



Subjective health and metabolic syndrome in middle age




Temperance in adulthood



Chapter 12: The family and its care functions








A partnership in the family





The structure of the family



The relationship between the partners



Adult attachment




Parenting





Delights and stresses in parenting



Parental identity



Child-rearing practices




Relationships in the chain of generations



Chapter 13: Work as a sphere of life








Occupational status and career line in women and men



Success in career path












Constructive behavior in childhood as the antecedent of success in the work domain



Satisfaction with work



Occupational well-being and personality












Job insecurity












Unemployment and psychological distress: selection or causation?



Health consequences of the unstable career line



The consequences of economic strain for the family and parenting












Work-family balance





A stress theory approach to work-family interface



A role enhancement theory approach to work-family interface



Successful reconciliation




Recovery from work and the content of free time



PART IV: Epilogue

Chapter 14: Navigating through the spheres of life








Middle age: a prime time



Midlife transition



The person functioning in the different spheres of life



Chapter 15: The integrated model for individual differences in social and psychological functioning

Chapter 16: A credo

References

Author index

Subject index