Overview
How can a person live a happy life? How can we better cope with stresses in our lives and become more resilient? Development does not stop at adulthood. We continue to change and grow because life is not static. In early adulthood, most people focus on developing friendships and partnerships as well as developing a work life. In middle adulthood, people are affected by a wide variety of situations, such as becoming a parent, switching careers, caring for aging parents, coping with a chronic illness, or weathering financial issues. For this assignment, you will apply the concepts you’ve learned to analyze a case study focused on middle adulthood or later adulthood.
Preparation
If you have not done so, choose one of the following case studies from your Broderick and Blewitt textbook. Each case study includes a set of questions that can guide your analysis of the pertinent issues for the particular case.
Luis, page 589.
Isabelle, page 630.
If you did not finish your research last week, search the Capella libraryLinks to an external site. for peer-reviewed articles. If you’re unfamiliar with the library, the “Finding Articles” section of the Master’s in Psychology Research GuideLinks to an external site. is a great place to start your search. You must include at least five properly cited resources.
Instructions
The case study analysis should be a maximum of six pages, including the introduction and conclusion, each of which should be roughly one-half page long. The body of the paper should not exceed five pages.
Organize your paper as follows, including headings for each section:
Title Page
Introduction: An introduction that includes an overview of the paper contents, including a brief summary and background information regarding the case study.
Case Study Analysis:
Presenting Challenges: Explain the presenting challenge or challenges and primary issue or issues.
Lifespan Theory: Analyze lifespan development theories to determine the most appropriate theory or theories to apply to the case study.
Intervention Process: Apply the appropriate lifespan development theory to support an identified intervention process.
Individual and Cultural Differences: Describe the potential impact of individual and cultural differences on development for the current age and context described in the case study.
Conclusion: Summarize the case study context, challenges, and interventions.
References: Cite five or more peer-reviewed articles as well as your course text to support your assertions.
Additional Requirements
Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: References and citations should be formatted according to current APA style and format. Refer to Evidence and APALinks to an external site. as needed.
Number of references: Your paper should include at least five properly cited peer-reviewed articles in addition to the text containing the case study.
Length: 5–6 double-spaced pages of content plus title and reference pages.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 points.
Refer to the rubric to ensure you meet the grading criteria for this assignment.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
Competency 1: Analyze how lifespan development theories and related research explain aspects of human growth and behavior at different ages.
Analyze lifespan development theories to determine the most appropriate theory or theories to apply to the case study.
Competency 2: Assess the potential impact of individual and cultural differences on development across the lifespan.
Describe the potential impact of individual and cultural differences on development for the current age and context described in the case study.
Competency 3: Identify evidence-based interventions to address specific developmental issues.
Apply the appropriate lifespan development theory to support an identified intervention process.
Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the psychological professions.
Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.
Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.
Case Study
Luis is a 52-year-old Cuban-American male who has spent the last 24 years in the human resource field. He is currently a supervisor in the billing department of a midsized hospital in the southeastern part of the United States. He worked hard to obtain a master’s degree while on the job at the hospital and always had high aspirations for himself professionally. Luis has three children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. His first wife Anna, who is 50, works as a preschool teacher in a school nearby. Their children’s ages are 16, 20, and 22. Both older children started to attend college but may have to drop out temporarily due to financial difficulties. Luis feels that it is his responsibility to support his children’s education, and he has been paying as much of their tuition as he can afford. Luis and his second wife live in a modest home in a community close to Luis’s job and his church, where he is an active member. Luis’s second wife, Sandy, has two boys aged 12 and 14. The younger boy has a serious learning disability and needs extra tutoring and a great deal of parent support to keep up academically. Sandy works part time as a receptionist in a medical practice, allowing her the flexibility to be home when her children return from school. Luis and Sandy support each other and put their family first. Sandy’s widowed mother lives nearby and helps with the children on a regular basis.
Recently, Luis has felt that his job is becoming more complicated and demanding. He has noted a dramatic increase in the amount of paperwork required and a distinct decrease in the time allotted to meet deadlines. His supervisory responsibilities have expanded to include workers from another unit, a change that has significantly increased his workload. His long-time assistant, who had taken over the management of many daily office tasks, was recently reassigned. Luis’s lower back pain, related to a traffic accident that happened when he was younger, has taken a significant turn for the worse. He is feeling more “on edge” during the day and has resumed taking the painkillers his doctor prescribed. He worries about what would happen if he lost his job, especially with so many people depending upon him. Luis has been instrumental in introducing wellness programs for the hospital employees, and he’s even extended some programs to members of his church. However, he feels that these programs are not for him. His employees might not think he’s capable of being their supervisor if he admits to needing self-help. And, he’s always relied on his faith to get him through hard times.
Discussion Questions
Consider Luis’s situation: Using a scale from 1 (very low) to 10 (very high), assess his life satisfaction, level of happiness, and overall level of well-being. Identify the risks and protective factors that are present in Luis’s life story. What risks and protections are related to his midlife stage, gender, and culture?
What role does religion appear to play in Luis’s life? Assess the benefits and potential problems associated with this part of his story.
Assess Luis’s level of stress. Is it acute? Chronic? What is his way of coping? To what degree can he manage his stress more effectively, and how might you help him do this?
