The Effects of Occupational Complexity on Late Life Cognition in ACTIVE: Examining the Mediating and Moderating Effects of Race

Abstract

Objectives: This article sought to determine (1) whether occupational complexity (OC) explains individual differences in cognition at baseline, (2) whether this relationship is differentially related to cognition by Black/White race, and (3) whether OC mediates some or all of the Black/White race-related variance in late life cognition. Methods: 2371 participants from the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study reported longest held jobs and received OC ratings based on a factor analysis of 63 variables from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Results: We found that multiple dimensions of OC are related to cognition, but there were relatively few Black/White differences in these associations. Across all cognitive dimensions except for useful field of view, a history of having jobs lower in substantive complexity and fine motor skills and higher in physical demands may explain some of the Black/White race differences in elder’s cognition. Discussion: We conclude that occupations can be a target to reduce social disparities in late life cognition.

Keywords

cognition race/ethnicity occupations aging

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aiken

L. S.

West

S. G.

Reno

R. R.

(1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage.

Andel

Silverstein

Kareholt

(2014). The role of midlife occupational complexity and leisure activity in late-life cognition. Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 70(2), 314-321. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbu110.

(2019). Illiteracy, dementia risk, and cognitive trajectories among older adults with low education. Neurology, 93(24), E2247-E2256. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000008587 .

(2002). Effects of cognitive training interventions with older adults: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(18), 2271-2281. DOI: 10.1001/jama.288.18.2271 .

(1993). Visual attention problems as a predictor of vehicle crashes in older drivers. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 34(11), 3110-3123.

Blom

(1958). Statistical estimates and transformed beta-variables. Almqvist & Wiksell.

Brandt

(1991). The Hopkins verbal learning test: Development of a new memory test with six equivalent forms. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 5(2), 125-142. DOI: 10.1080/13854049108403297 .

(2001). Why does job segregation lead to wage inequality among African Americans? Person, place, sector, or skills? Social Science Research, 30(3), 473-495. DOI: 10.1006/ssre.2001.0708 .

(2016). Cognitive reserve in patients with mild cognitive impairment: The importance of occupational complexity as a buffer of declining cognition in older adults. AIMS Medical Science, 3(1), 77-95. DOI: 10.3934/medsci.2016.1.77 .

(2017). Separate and unequal in the labor market: Human capital and the jim crow wage gap. Journal of Labor Economics, 35(3), 655-696. DOI: 10.1086/690944 .

11.

Center for Disease Control . (2019). Social determinants of health: Know what affects health. https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/research.html?Search=cognition&Sort=ArticleDate%3A%3Adesc.

12.

Cialone

Tenbrink

Spiers

H. J.

(2018). Sculptors, architects, and painters conceive of depicted spaces differently. Cognitive Science, 42(2), 524-553. DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12510.

(2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 10(7).

(1976). Kit of factor-referenced cognitive tests. Educational Testing Service.

(1999). The emergence, persistence, and recent widening of the racial unemployment gap. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 52(2), 252-270. DOI: 10.1177/001979399905200206 .

(1975). “Mini-mental state” a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189-198. DOI: 10.3744/snak.2003.40.2.021 .

(2007). Cognitive functioning in healthy aging: The role of reserve and lifestyle factors early in life. Gerontologist, 47(3), 307-322. DOI: 10.1093/geront/47.3.307 .

(2019). The role of occupation in explaining cognitive functioning in later life: Education and occupational complexity in a U.S. National sample of black and white men and women. Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 74(7), 1189-1199. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbx112 .

19.

Gonda

(1985). Schaie-thurstone mental abilities test: Word Series test. Unverzagt

F. W.

et al. (Eds.), Palo Alto. CA: Consulting Psycholo‐gists Press.

(2006). Parental socioeconomic position and parental life satisfaction as predictors of job strain in adulthood: 18-year follow-up of the cardiovascular risk in young finns study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 61(2), 243-249. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2006.05.014 .

(2020). The relationship between Jim Crow laws and social capital from 1997–2014: A 3-level multilevel hierarchical analysis across time, county and state. Social Science & Medicine, 262(June), 113142. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113142 .

(2020). The price of the ticket: Health costs of upward mobility among African Americans. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(4), 1-18. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17041179 .

(2020). Social injustice and urban development (1st ed.). American Psychiatric Association Publishing. https://books.google.com/books?id=FAAPEAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA95&ots=jcLzfyBstN&dq=Izenberg%2CJ. M.%2C%26Fullilove%2CM.T.(2020).SocialInjusticeandUrbanDevelopment.Social(In)JusticeandMentalHealth%2C95.&lr&pg=PA95#v=onepage&q&f=false

24.

Jobe

J. B.

Smith

D. M.

Ball

Tennstedt

S. L.

Marsiske

Willis

S. L.

Rebok

G. W.

Morris

J. N.

Helmers

K. F.

Leveck

M. D.

Kleinman

(2001). Active: A cognitive intervention trial to promote independence in older adults. Controlled Clinical Trials, 22(4), 453-479. DOI: 10.1016/S0197-2456(01)00139-8.

(2013). Cognitive activities and cognitive performance in middle-aged adults at risk for alzheimer’s disease. Psychology and Aging, 28(4), 1004-1014. DOI: 10.1037/a0034838 .

(1998). Occupation type as a predictor of cognitive decline and dementia in old age. Age and Ageing, 27(4), 477-483. DOI: 10.1093/ageing/27.4.477 .

(1973). Occupational experience and psychological functioning: An assessment of reciprocal effects. American Sociological Review, 38(1), 97-118.

(2003). Literacy and memory decline among ethnically diverse elders. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 25(5), 680-690. DOI: 10.1076/jcen.25.5.680.14579 .

(2004). Going down? Race and downward occupational mobility for white-collar workers in the 1990s. Work and Occupations, 31(3), 283-322. DOI: 10.1177/0730888404266383 .

(2008). Characterizing and explaining differences in cognitive test performance between African American and European American older adults. Experimental Aging Research, 34(1), 80-100. DOI: 10.1080/03610730701776427 .

31.

Owens

J. H.

(2020). The effects of occupational complexity on late life cognition in ACTIVE: Examining the mediating and moderating effects of race: Supplemental tables. http://osf.io/ctyz7.

32.

Pedhazur

E. J.

(1982). Multiple regression in behavioral research. Applied Psychological Measurement, 7(3), 369-372. DOI: 10.2307/2987976.

(2019). Race and networks in the job search process. American Sociological Review, 84(6), 983-1012. DOI: 10.1177/0003122419883255 .

(2008). Associations of job demands and intelligence with cognitive performance among men in late life. Neurology, 70(19), 1803-1808. DOI: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000295506.58497.7e .

(2006). Occupational characteristics and cognitive performance among elderly male twins. Neurology, 67(8), 1377-1382. DOI: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000240061.51215 .

36.

R Core Team . (2019). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing.

37.

Rey

(1941). The psychological examination in cases of traumatic encepholopathy. Problems. Archives de Psychologie, 28, 215-285.

38.

Rossee

(2012). Lavaan: An {R} package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(2), 1-36.

39.

RStudio Team . (2019). RStudio: Integrated development environment for R (1.2.5019). RStudio, Inc. http://www.rstudio.com/

40.

Seblova

Berggren

Lövdén

(2020). Education and age-related decline in cognitive performance: Systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies. Ageing Research Reviews, 58, 101005. DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2019.101005.