ABSTRACT
Situations which call for new adaptations in adult life are generally associated with transition or change points, such as entry into marriage and parenthood, change in work situation, death of spouse or divorce, the departure of the youngest child. During the adult years, health data were collected primarily in two follow-ups: 1953–54 and 1958. The entailed a thorough medical examination, a series of interviews, and personality inventories. The second is the transient nature of distress symptoms in the Depression. When we think of a common life experience which tests adaptive capacities, the transition to parenthood immediately comes to mind. This event, even more than marriage, signifies entry into the responsibilities of adult life. Different issues on the Depression experience are posed by looking forward and backward in the life span. Up to this point authors have mainly proceeded from conditions in the 30s, from family deprivation, adaptations, and related meanings, to their manifestations in adult personality and life experience.
