Fostering Development in Midlife and Older Age: A Positive Psychology Perspective

This handbook integrates and discusses a growing evidence base concerning individual development across middle and late adulthood. The book includes a comprehensive analysis of what growth implies within midlife and older age and considers how different developmental areas are intertwined (i.e., physical, cognitive, social and emotional development as well as personality growth). As the gap between theory and practice still constitutes an issue in developmental research, the handbook also aims to provide illustrative examples of prevention and intervention from a positive psychology perspective. These were selected to represent a variety of topics, relevant for individual development where research informs practice, ranging from happiness, grandparenthood, love and sexuality to loneliness, depression, anxiety, suicide prevention and coping with death.
This handbook is a must-have resource for students and researchers working in developmental psychology, health psychology, gerontology and, public health. It will also be of interest to practitioners such as counsellors, life coaches, psychotherapists, organizational psychologists, health professionals, social workers or public health planners.

Dr. Irina Catrinel Crăciun is an associate professor of developmental psychology, positive psychology, and qualitative research methods at Freie Universität Berlin, where she has also been guest professor of health and gender. Additionally, she works as a researcher and practitioner in the fields of health promotion and positive development. She received her PhD in health psychology at the Freie Universität Berlin and subsequently held a post-doctoral research grant on resources for positive aging, sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Project findings were published as a book called "Positive Aging and Precarity. Theory, Policy, and Social Reality within a Comparative German Context" (published in 2019 by Springer) as well as in several prestigious journals such as The Gerontologist, Journal of Aging Studies, Journal of Health Psychology and Journal of Women and Aging. Her research interests include a wide range of topics from fostering development across the lifespan to health communication and exploring ageing, gender, and psychosocial health determinants. Her recent studies focus mainly on ageing, development and health perceptions in vulnerable populations, prevention of gender and social inequalities in health, and representations of ageing on social media.