Lifespan Growth & Development (PSYC2314) DUAL CREDIT

CALCULATING YOUR LONGEVITY

Respond to each item honestly, and sum the various positive and negative factors to arrive at the appropriate number of years more (or less) than average you are likely to live.

 START WITH YOUR BEGINNING LIFE EXPECTANCY (from the Life Expectancy Table provided by your instructor.)          

• For each grandparent who lived past 80, add 1 year.       
• For each grandparent who lived to 70 but not 80, add 1/2 year. 
• If your mother lived past 80, add 4 years.             
• If your father lived past 80, add 2 years.
• For each grandparent, parent, or sibling who died of any type of heart disease before age 50, subtract 4 years.    
• For each such relative dying of heart disease between age 50 and 60, subtract 2 years.   
• For each such relative who died of diabetes or ulcers before age 60, subtract 3 years.      
• Women: For each sister or mother who died of breast cancer before age 60, subtract 1 year.       
• If your intelligence is superior, add 2 years.         

HEALTH HISTORY             

• If your mother was younger than 18 or older than 35 at your birth, subtract 1 year.          
• If you are the first born in your family, add 1 year.            
• Women:  if you have had no children (or plan no children) subtract 1/2 year.       
• If you have an annual physical exam, add 2 years.             

 CURRENT HEALTH

•  If your weight is 10–30 percent above ideal weight shown in standard tables, the amount you must subtract depends on your age and gender. For women, subtract 5 years if you are between 20 and 30; 4 years if you are between 30 and 50, and 2 years if you are over 50. For men, subtract 10 years if you are between 20 and 30, 4 years if you are between 30 and 45, and 2 years for any age over that.   
• If your weight is more than 30 percent above standard tables: Women, subtract 6 1/2 years if you are between 20 and 30, 5 years if you are between 30 and 50, and 4 years thereafter. Men, subtract 13 years if you are between 20 and 30, 6 years if you are between 30 and 40, and 4 years thereafter.             
• If your diet is genuinely low in fat and sugar, and you never eat past the feeling of fullness, add 1 year.    
• If you smoke 2 or more packs a day, subtract 12 years; if you smoke 1–2 packs a day, subtract 7 years; if you smoke less than 1 pack a day, subtract 2 years.
• If you never drink, neither add nor subtract; if you are a heavy drinker, subtract 8 years; if you are a moderate drinker add 3 years, if you are a light drinker, add 1 1/2 years.   
• If you do some aerobic exercise at least 3 times a week, add 3 years.       
• If you sleep more than 10 or less than 6 hours per night, subtract 2 years.             
• If you have intimate sexual relations once a week or twice a week, add 2 years.  
• If you have a chronic health condition (e.g., high blood pressure, diabetes, ulcer, cancer) or are frequently ill, subtract 5 years.

 YOUR CURRENT LIFE

• If your occupation is at a professional, technical, or managerial level, add 1 year; if you work at unskilled work, subtract 4.          
• If your family income is above average for your education and occupation, add 1 year; if it is below average, subtract 1.           
• If your job is a physically active one, add 2; if it is sedentary, subtract 2.  
• If you now live in an urban area and have lived in urban areas most of your life, subtract 1; if you have spent most of your life in a rural area, add 1.   
• If you are married and living with your spouse, add 1.     
• If you are separated or divorced, subtract 9 if you are a man, 4 if you are a woman.          
• If you are widowed, subtract 7 if you are a man, 4 if you are a woman.   
• If you are a never-married woman, subtract 1 year for each decade unmarried past age 25.           
• If you are a never-married man and living with family, subtract 1 year for each decade unmarried past 25; if you live alone, subtract 2 years for each decade unmarried past 25.          
• If you have at least two close friends in whom you can confide, add 1.     
• If your personality is noticeably aggressive and hostile and you feel regularly under time pressure, subtract 2-5 depending on how much the description fits.     
• If you are a calm, relaxed, easygoing person who adapts well to whatever happens, add 1-3 depending on how well the description fits.        
• If you are a basically happy person and have a lot of fun, add 2.  
• If you have had an episode of being depressed or very tense, guilty, or worried that lasted as long as a year or more, subtract 1–3 depending on how severe the depression was.        
• If you take a lot of risks, subtract 2; if you generally avoid risks, add 1.