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A dynamic and inspiring exploration of the new science that is redrawing the future for people in their forties, fifties, and sixties for the better—and for good.There's no such thing as an inevitable midlife crisis, Barbara Bradley Hagerty writes in this provocative, hopeful book. It's a myth, an illusion. New scientific research explodes the fable that midlife is a time when things start to go downhill for everybody. In fact, midlife can be a great new adventure, when you can embrace fresh possibilities, purposes, and pleasures. In Life Reimagined, Hagerty explains that midlife is about renewal: It's the time to renegotiate your purpose, refocus your relationships, and transform the way you think about the world and yourself. Drawing from emerging information in neurology, psychology, biology, genetics, and sociology—as well as her own story of midlife transformation—Hagerty redraws the map for people in midlife and plots a new course forward in understanding our health, our relationships, even our futures.

Childhood, adolescence, even the'twilight years'have been extensively researched and documented. But the vast terrain known as midlife—the longest segment of the life course—has remained uncharted. How physically and psychologically healthy are Americans at midlife? And why do some experience greater well-being than others? The MacArthur Foundation addressed these questions head-on by funding a landmark study known as'Midlife in the U.S.,'or MIDUS. For the first time in a single study, researchers were able to integrate epidemiological, sociological, and psychological assessments, as well as innovative new measures to evaluate how work and family life influence each other. How Healthy Are We? presents the key findings from the survey in three sections: physical health, quality of life and psychological well-being, and the contexts (family, work) of the midlife. The topics covered by almost forty scholars in a wide variety of fields are vast, including everything from how health and well-being vary with socioeconomic standing, gender, race, or region of the country to how middle-aged people differ from younger or older adults in their emotional experience and quality of life. This health—the study measures not only health-the absence of illness—but also reports on the presence of wellness in middle-aged Americans. The culmination of a decade and a half of research by leading scholars, How Healthy Are We? will dramatically alter the way we think about health in middle age and the factors that influence it. Researchers, policymakers, and others concerned about the quality of midlife in contemporary America will welcome its insights. • Having a good life means having good relationships with others to almost 70% of those surveyed. Less than 40% mentioned their careers. • Reports of disruptive daily stressors vary by age, with young adults and those in midlife experiencing more than those in later adulthood. • Men have higher assessments of their physical and mental health than woman until the age of 60.

There is a growing body of scientific knowledge regarding development during the middle years which has so far been relegated to discipline-specific texts and journals (e.g., clinical psychology and endocrinology). Life in the Middle consolidates main findings across disciplines, with a life-span perspective regarding mid-life. Coverage includes individual development in middle age from the psychological and biological perspectives as well as the sociocultural context in which middle-aged individuals live and work, including physical health in mid-life, psychological well-being, cognitive development, the impact of work on the individual, and the general development of the'self.'This age period is increasingly becoming the focus of scholarly attention as the largest cohort in U.S. history are now moving into the middle years (e.g., the'babyboomers'). From 1990 to 2015 the number of middle-aged people will increase 72 percent from 47 to 80 million. - Contributors are outstanding scholars in the field of adult development - Addresses critical theoretical issues in midlife - Includes important contributions to our understanding of physical health at midlife - Presents a thorough review of women's health at midlife - Takes a holistic approach to biopsychosocial functioning at midlife