Chapter 6 and 7

I thought the idea of the amount of playtime before entering formal school affecting longevity  was very interesting, specifically because of the value that society places in education. One would think that, with the way Americans push the idea of a rigid education, that a child starting school at a younger age would be beneficial for him/her. However, unstructured playtime serves to be very beneficial for one’s psychological health, and therefore can increase longevity in the long run. This is puzzling to me because it seems that this information would be used to promote more loosely structured elementary schools, but this does not seem to be the case.

I was also very puzzled by the fact that parental divorce seemed to be more tragic in the long term for children than parental death. I would have assumed that parental death would have been more traumatizing for a child (creating a more stressful environment and therefore a shorter life) than a divorce (where the child would still be supported by two parents). However, results from the Terman Project shows that those whose parents divorced lived longer than those who had a parent die during their childhood. The chapter also talks about the resilience of these children and how that affects longevity, but I would think the resilience factor in these two situations (divorce and death) would be very similar, if not more for a child whose parent died.

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Ch. 6 & 7

In Chapter 6, the impact of early childhood and school on an individual’s lifelong health is discussed. More common myths were debunked, such as the criticality of breastfeeding on long-term health and normal personality development. (They found no difference.) The debunked myth that I found most fascinating, though, was the idea that starting bright children earlier in school gives them an advantage. They actually found the opposite–that starting school at a very early age can lead to more difficulties and ‘erratic life paths’ in the future. I thought this was super interesting, especially when thinking about the people I know who skipped a grade. I knew one girl whose parents actually had her skip two grades early on, and she always had a really tough time socially. It makes sense that peer relations and social adjustment end up mattering more than intellectual challenge at that age, which makes me SO glad that my parents decided not to enter me in kindergarten early when my teachers suggested it. Especially with how competitive I’ve always been, I probably would’ve been a much more stressed out child than I already was. (Plus, who knows how much more awkward I could’ve turned out, honestly.) Solid call, thanks mom and dad.

Chapter 7 addresses parental divorce and the serious risk it poses to longevity. The authors found that children from divorced families died 5 years earlier on average, which is insane! What’s even stranger is that the death of a parent doesn’t confer the same risk to life expectancy as divorce. Maybe it’s because divorce causes a more drastic break in the family, and likely more stress to the child. This can lead to riskier behavior later in life, like heavy smoking and drinking, lower educational achievement, and higher chance of divorce later on. This disadvantage was overcome by resilient participants, as well as participants whose families were high conflict/low nurturance–which meant divorce was somewhat of a relief rather than a shock. I probably shouldn’t have been as surprised by these findings as I was, but it’s hard to believe that a life event can really have that much impact on a person’s life trajectory.

 

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Chapters 6 & 7

After reading the beginning section of chapter 6 I am shocked that there are not more benefits to breast-feeding. I am most surprised that those children who were breastfed did not develop more secure relationships later on in life. I think the researchers should have looked into the relationship between breast feeding and social relationships because those results would be interesting.

After reading chapter 6 I think it is important to just keep your children on the right track. Like we read in this chapter often times skipping ahead is not beneficial. I think each step for a child is important and a parent should not rush the early childhood years by pushing their children ahead. I do understand the case of the child who is advanced and becomes bored and distracted in the classroom and may therefore become disruptive. I think in that case, it is okay to skip a grade, but it may be more beneficial to take accelerated courses or attend a more advanced school.

In chapter 7, I did not find the fact that the death of a parent does not impact life-span mortality surprising, because my grandmother lost her father when she was a teenager, and now she is almost 90 years old. I think children are able to adapt and move on from tragic experiences and therefore the death of a parent would not impact their own longevity.

After reading chapter 7, I do not agree with the finding that parental divorce was a risk factor for death from injury or disease. I think this is a very powerful conclusion and I do not think the researchers provided the readers with enough evidence to back up their claim. Divorce impacts what seems like the majority of families these days, and I do not think that it plays that large of a role in the longevity of those children affected. Although, I can understand why divorce may lead to financial hardships, which may consequently impact the actions of children from divorced families.

I thought it was interesting how the impact of divorce was different for men versus women. It makes sense that during this time, the men were expected to be the head of the household, and therefore bring home the income. Due to their parents’ divorce they may have not completed their education and therefore were not able to make a comfortable living for their families. Resulting in them participating in risky behaviors such as drinking and smoking.

I think it would be interesting to see if the smoking percentages between men of divorced parents versus intact families differed today. I believe it would, because I think smoking has become less prevalent than it was during this study. I also think it would be interesting to see how this study would differ if it was done today, because half of marriages end in a divorce, and it seems to be the norm in the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Chapter 6 and 7

One aspect of Chapter 6 that made me think of the biopsychosocial model was the claim that “level of education by itself was not a very good predictor of later health and longevity.” Even though obtaining more education does not necessarily mean a longer life, it may have an affect on the other parts of one’s life that leads to longer life. For instance, if one is constantly being bullied or talked down to because of their education level, it may take a toll on one’s mental health. This person may be more anxious or depressed. As we have learned, being stressed can have long-lasting negative effects on the immune system. Moreover, if one doesn’t have a high level of education, they are more likely to live in neighborhoods that are not as affluent. Nowadays salaries are based off of the highest degree attained. If one does not have a higher education degree, they are not going to receive as high of a salary as someone that has a Master’s in that field. This all affects a person’s social atmosphere with the type food they are able to access and afford, type of neighborhood they live in, and influences in those neighborhoods.

Chapter 7 stated a claim of something I’ve witness. Not only did my childhood best friend’s parents get divorced when she was 8 years old, but her mother also passed away from a brain aneurysm 2 years ago. For a while she did engage in heavy drinking and was depressed. However she also has gone through the phase of resistance and managed to turn her life around and graduate a semester early and find a full time job. Despite having witnessed what this novel claims, the novel does not present any specific statistics proving their points. With divorce rates rising and being more prevalent, it would be in the best interests of the authors to include these statistics.

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Chapter 6 & 7

Chapter 6 was definitely uplifting for me to read because I was a child whose parents decided to wait until I was older to enter Pre-K. Two of my best friends in high school were the two youngest in our class, whereas I was the fourth oldest. It was interesting to observe our differences in some of these areas; for example, I know they both felt a tremendous amount of academic pressure from a very young age. Unlike what LP mentioned, my two friends were extremely smart and ended up at amazing four year institutions where they plan on achieving their outstanding goals. I do, however, really see the expectations effect on them because they had a lot of stress about getting good grades for their parents.

I found Chapter 7 to relate a lot back to the Straub Chapter 4 reading about stress. It seemed straightforward to me that, when placed in a stressful situation at such a young age, the children turned to coping mechanisms that maybe were not the best for their health. One of the book’s themes that I saw reflected in this chapter again was the ability to take your fate into your own hands; if one’s parents got divorced, they simply had to find their own happiness and fulfillment later in life to not feel the heavy burden of their parent’s divorce throughout their lives.

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Ch. 6 & 7

Chapter 5 discussed how early starts, namely entering school early, affects a child later on in life.  What surprised me was that it wasn’t being younger than your peers that was a predictor of later stress, it was starting a year or so early.  Students that skipped a grade or two were no more likely to have struggles later in life, but kids that started kindergarten a year or two early seemed to dwindle on average.  I find this rather strange considering how important socialization and education is for childhood development.

Chapter 6 examined the effects of divorce on children.  It is not surprising that it the leading social predictor of reduced longevity, but what was interesting was that parental death during childhood did not have the same effect, even though they are both extreme stressors for children.  I also found it interesting that the relationship between family happiness and divorce was looked at, because often it is assumed that the marriage should be maintained for the child regardless of the quality of it.  I saw it with one of best friends, he didn’t have a good relationship with his stepdad, but did with his mom and father.  Once his mom and stepdad separated, the life returned to him.  His mom said she found him smiling in his sleep and that neither of them realized how much of a naturally happy person he was until he was out of the unhappy household.  The chapter seemed to follow the pattern of the rest of the book: how you deal with stress and how conscientious you are is the strongest predictor of longevity.

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Ch 6 and 7: Early Life

In Chapter 6, they focused on the early life of children and how that affects their life-span. They found that breastfeeding helped early on with infant health but had little impact on long-term life. Additionally, starting school at an early age tended to create difficulties later in life while those who started later lived longer. Furthermore, their education did not guarantee longevity and long-term health. I found it very interesting to see that most of what doctors and new parents are most concerned about have little impact on their children’s lives in the long run. At the end of the chapter, they added that these patterns can be altered and improved. I found this contradictory. They said that education socially shaped us in ways that impact health. While one can outwardly change their attitudes and characteristics, they may always carry these traits with them. Thus, they will continue to be negatively affected by the consequences.

In Chapter 7, they focused solely on the impacts of divorce on a child. Surprisingly, coping with a death of a parent did not have a measurable impact on life span yet going through a parental divorce resulted in Termites dying five years earlier than expected. In fact, parental divorce during childhood was one of the single strongest social predictors of early onset death. Even so, the children were expected to follow in their parents’ footsteps and also get divorced. These are scary predictions for the future of children based solely on a relationship between separate people. The researchers even said that staying in a marriage in order to prevent these issues is not a good idea if “the family environment is a distressed and unhappy one.” This contradicted the previous chapter where the researchers claimed that patterns could be altered and improved. Not only will these kids die earlier, but their kids will as well as they are predicted to also get a divorce. While I agree that divorce has a lasting impact on children, I do not believe that it is abnormal to find a children that lives a long, happy life and also does not end their marriage with divorce.

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Chapter 4+5

I found it very surprising that the researchers came to the conclusion that happiness was actually less likely to determine a longer life than seriousness. That’s very counterintuitive to me. But I guess it kind of goes along with the previous chapter about how being social doesn’t relate to a longer life. In relation to the catastrophizing chapter, it would make sense that it’s important to be happy but also worry when things seem to be off. However, in the following chapter, obviously worrying too much may be fatal.

What I gathered from the chapter on happiness is that it’s necessary to have a happy medium concerning optimism and cheerfulness. Yes, it’s important to approach new situations with a smile on your face and an open mind, however, thinking too optimistically may cloud your judgment. One example in the chapter talks about how too much optimism when being diagnosed with an illness can be dangerous. This is because you may get to hopeful and positive, which may cause you to focus less on the doctor’s recommendations and directions. However, I do think that it’s important to maintain some level of positivity as seen when patients take placebo pills and actually end up getting somewhat better.

On the other hand as I was saying, it’s important to not blow things completely out of proportion, which I do tend to do a lot. In a sense, it relates back to the researchers talking about optimism and neuroticism in the previous chapter. If you have a tendency to over-generalize things into a negative prediction, a negative result is more likely to happen. I can’t help but be reminded of the phrase “Believing is Seeing,” which relates to the concept that thinking positive thoughts will likely lead to positive outcomes. I can see how being a catstrophizer can definitely relate to possible mental issues, and that mental health issues does in fact correlate highly with dangerous or provoked death. As the researchers state, you can change the way that you think just by training yourself to think more positive thoughts and stop catastrophizing as soon as you begin. I think that was a great reminder for myself as well as others, that things don’t have to seem as bad as you think they are. It’s up to you to reframe your thoughts into something more positive. Your thoughts are as positive as you make them out to be.

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Ch 4/5

The following chapters focus on the optimists and the catastrophizers. Throughout life, a lot of us are lead to believe that if we focus on improving our happiness, we will physically be in better shape. However, that is not the case. Our happiness and physical health may be connected, but it is difficult to tell whether emotions alone cause us to be physically healthier. If our optimism leads to health-promoting behaviors (i.e. taking medication on time), such as in the case of Paul, then our health is more likely to improve.

If one feels that one mistake will always have dramatic effects, they may be catastrophizers, a trait that is related to earlier deaths.  On the other hand, deaths by suicide were noticed to be related to a loss in one’s sense of order and agency in the world. This could have occurred at any point in their lifetime and many events might have gradually accumulated to one’s loss.  In old age, Dr. Schneidman found that people did not regret their actions, but rather the actions that they did not take.

These chapters were interesting in the sense that they showed how being on either extreme of the spectrum of optimism and pessimism are correlated with shorter lives. It is interesting to see how high conscientiousness still plays a factor with longer health. In my day to day life, I understand that reasoning. If I feel really pessimistic towards an exam because I do not like the class and do not understand the material very well, I tend to develop a schedule to study for it to hopefully do better. In the physical health realm, if I am feeling optimistic, ie in accomplishing my personal health project, I am going to create a routine to help reach that goal.

Through the reading in chapter 6, I was trouble linking the catastrophizers to suicide. Were those who tended to think catastrophically more likely to end their lives? On page 64, the authors mention that the findings on those two showed how individuals were often missing something from childhood but that is it. If there is no obvious direct link, does it make sense to put these two studies together in one chapter?

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Chapter 4 and 5

In these chapters, the authors discussed the roles that optimism, neuroticism, and catastrophizing, play in longevity. Many believe that happiness is the secret to good health, but the researchers found that cheerful children were less likely to live into old age than soberer children. In addition, they made the conclusion that healthy people were happier but happy people weren’t necessarily healthier.  This finding surprised me because just like many other people, I thought that happier people live longer because they are less stressed and have a more positive outlook on life. In reality, more cheerful people tend to be more carefree which can cause them to make riskier or dangerous choices. These choices can sometimes lead to early death. This finding did not surprise me because it is very similar to what the authors discovered about conscientious people. Those who are more conscientious make less risky decisions, and therefore they live longer. I learned that although happiness and optimism do not promote longevity directly, they do encourage health promoting behaviors. This concept makes sense to me. If I am more optimistic that a treatment will work, I will follow the treatment as prescribed. If I think a medicine isn’t going to do much for me, I probably won’t finish the dose.

I was intrigued by the finding that neurotic and conscientious individuals are more likely to live longer than non neurotic individuals. This was interesting to me because I always use the term neurotic in somewhat of a negative way. But it does make sense to me that someone who worries a lot would tend to take good better of themselves that someone who doesn’t worry.  I scored high on both the neuroticism scale and conscientious scale!

The authors also found that catastrophizers died sooner, have superficial relationships, and have trouble facing their problems. Lucky for me, I did not score high on the catastrophizer scale.

One thing I found interesting was that the elderly lawyers did not mention the word “death” during their interviews. I believe that this finding reveals that people who live longer tend to have more successful, fulfilling careers. Additionally, they are quite content with their life and thus do not think about death often.

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