chronosystem
n. in ecological systems theory, changes and continuities occurring over time that influence an individual’s development. These influences include normative life transitions (e.g., school entry, marriage, retirement), nonnormative life transitions (e.g., divorce, winning the lottery, relocation), and the cumulative effects of the entire sequence of transitions over the life course. Compare exosystem; mesosystem; macrosystem. [introduced by Urie Bronfenbrenner]