8 - THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT: RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS

Abstract

This chapter presents three developmental studies that focus on adult development. Study 1 was an assessment of young adults in their early twenties who had been separated from their families in infancy or early childhood (under five). The major findings of Study 1 were that the early childhood separation from family and preschool residential care, at least from about age two on, are not themselves sufficient antecedents to a seriously troubled or troublesome young adulthood. Study 2, which is called The Adult Intimacy Study was an examination of the relationships between capacities for intimacy in young adults of about age 30 and the nature of their peer relationships in later childhood or preadolescence. Evidence in Study 2 showed that although both aloof and warm adult males had preadolescent chums, the men who had little capacity for warmth or intimacy in their thirties had experienced a souring and rupturing of their chumships in preadolescence. Study 3 started out from the young adult data on parents in the Berkeley Guidance Study longitudinal files and searched for continuities into old age (about age 70). All these three studies and—especially, the third study—on aging parents evoke second thoughts about theory on continuities over the lifespan and the complex matter of practical or policy problems as a starting point for inquiry into human—and particularly adult—development. The chapter discusses this issue.