ABSTRACT
Middle age can be defined in many ways; for example, chronologically (as the age period from approximately 35 to 55 years), biologically (as the latter decades of reproductively mature adulthood), or in relationship terms as the time when children grow up and leave the family home (Krause and Haverkamp, 1996). Middle age also tends to be a time when one ' s parents are old and needing care and attention.
