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Summary
Summary
At a time when people are living into their tenth decade, the longest longitudinal study of human development ever undertaken offers welcome news for old age: our lives evolve in our later years and often become more fulfilling. Among the surprising findings: people who do well in old age did not necessarily do so well in midlife, and vice versa.
Author Notes
He is a widely respected researcher, psychiatrist & professor at the Harvard Medical School. He is also the author of several books, including The Wisdom of the Ego, The Natural History of Alcoholism & Adaption to Life. He is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on aging.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
A fascinating account of the 268 individuals selected for the Harvard Study of Adult Development (the "Grant Study"), which "began in 1938 as an attempt to transcend medicine's usual preoccupation with pathology and learn something instead about optimum health and potential and the conditions that promote them." Vaillant (Psychiatry/Harvard Medical School: Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith, 2008, etc.) has done a wonderful job summarizing the study, discussing its major findings, and communicating his enthusiasm for every aspect of the project, which became his life's work starting in 1966. The study has been investigating what makes a successful and healthy life. Initially, this meant looking for potential officer material for the military. Vaillant established what he called "the Decathlon of Flourishing--a set of ten accomplishments in late life that covered many different facets of success." With humor and intriguing insights, the author shows how progress in health studies and the passage of time contributed to the constant "back and forth between nature and nurture." During Vaillant's tenure, human maturation and resilience became the focus, and now biology is reasserting itself in the form of DNA studies and fMRI imaging, the seeds for future research. The author considers the study's greatest contributions to be a demonstration that human growth continues long after adolescence, the world's longest and most thorough study of alcoholism, and its identification and charting of involuntary coping mechanisms. Inspiring when reporting these successes, his personal approach to discovery repeatedly draws readers in as he leads up to the account of his realization that the true value of a human life can only be fully understood in terms of the cumulative record of the entire life span. Joyful reading about a groundbreaking study and its participants.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Choice Review
This fascinating book of "numbers" and "pictures" is the final summary volume of a longitudinal psychosocial study focused on the optimum health of 268 males from Harvard College classes. Psychiatrist Vaillant directed the Harvard Study of Adult Development (originally known as the Grant Study, which began in 1938) from 1966 to 2003. Adaptation to Life (CH, Mar'78) is the author's earlier book on the subject. Vaillant established a "Decathlon of Flourishing" or ten accomplishments in late life covering various facets of success that related physical constitution, social advantage, and a loving childhood to predicting successful old age (numbers). He tells the stories of some of these men in these intriguing pages (pictures of behaviors). The book touches on the impact of childhood/adolescence and marriage and discusses living to age 90, alcoholism, resilience, and coping mechanisms. Vaillant suggests that the study's three greatest contributions rest in the acknowledgment that adult development is lifelong, the effects of lifetime alcohol abuse are still being discovered, and "involuntary coping mechanisms" are very important. This book is well worth reading for the discoveries contained in its pages; it has the potential to advance knowledge about adult development alongside cross-sectional studies by Gail Sheehy, Daniel Levinson, and others. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. J. Clawson University of Central Missouri
Library Journal Review
Human social and emotional development does not peak at age 30 but continues throughout one's life. A person's upbringing does not set them on an inescapable path toward a happy or unhappy life. These are two of the major findings of the Harvard Grant Study, which has surveyed the physical and mental health of an original cohort of 237 Harvard undergraduate men beginning in the late 1930s. Using case studies as illustrations, former director Vaillant (Aging Well) reviews the results of research investigating mental health, longevity, alcoholism, resilience, and spirituality over time. Especially interesting are his observations on the changing issues, methods, and priorities throughout the project's history. The Grant Study remains the longest ongoing longitudinal study of human development continuing to track survivors (68 of the original group were still living as of March 2012) as they approach 100 years. VERDICT Vaillant reminisces on his 40 years of work with the Grant Study, summarizes what the study reveals about subjects in their tenth decade, and discussions how the implications may affect future research. Recommended for those interested in human development.-Lucille Boone, San Jose P.L., CA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Cast of Protagonists | p. ix |
| 1 Maturation Makes Liars of Us All | p. 1 |
| 2 The Proof of the Pudding: To Flourish for the Next Sixty Years | p. 27 |
| 3 A Short History of the Grant Study | p. 54 |
| 4 How Childhood and Adolescence Affect Old Age | p. 108 |
| 5 Maturation | p. 144 |
| 6 Marriage | p. 190 |
| 7 Living to Ninety | p. 224 |
| 8 Resilience and Unconscious Coping | p. 261 |
| 9 Alcoholism | p. 292 |
| 10 Surprising Findings | p. 328 |
| 11 Summing Up | p. 351 |
| Appendixes | p. 373 |
| Notes | p. 415 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 437 |
| Index | p. 441 |
