ABSTRACT
THAT A PERSON is as old as he feels is a commonly heard observation. It contains considerable truth, for certainly the mere tally of years is a poor measure of aging: although it cannot be arrested, aging can be delayed or accelerated. Moreover, the rate at which physiological and psychological aging takes place varies widely among different individuals and from stage to stage in the individual’s cycle of life. And this rate has a marked impact on the competence with which older persons handle their life tasks in their later years; likewise, it has marked impact on the extent to which their adult children will feel and accept responsibilities connected with their parents’ aging as they themselves approach the later stages of their family life cycle.
