The aim of this study was to investigate occupational cognitive complexity of main lifetime occupation in relation to level and 15-year change in episodic memory recall in a sample of older adults (≥ 65 years, n = 780). We used latent growth curve modelling with occupational cognitive complexity (O*NET indicators) as independent variable. Subgroup analyses in a sample of middle-aged (mean: 49.9 years) men (n = 260) were additionally performed to investigate if a general cognitive ability (g) factor at age 18 was predictive of future occupational cognitive complexity and cognitive performance in midlife. For the older sample, a higher level of occupational cognitive complexity was related to a higher level of episodic recall (β = 0.15, p < .001), but the association with rate of change (β = 0.03, p = .64) was not statistically significant. In the middle-aged sample, g at age 18 was both directly (β = 0.19, p = .01) and indirectly (via years of education after age 18, ab = 0.19) predictive of midlife levels of occupational cognitive complexity. Cognitive ability at age 18 was also a direct predictor of midlife episodic recall (β = 0.60, p ≤ 0.001). Critically, entry of the early adult g factor attenuated the association between occupational complexity and cognitive level (from β = 0.21, p = .01 to β = 0.12, p = .14). Overall, our results support a pattern of preserved differentiation from early to late adulthood for individuals with different histories of occupational complexity.

本研究的目的是调查老年人（≥ 65 岁，n  = 780）样本中主要终身职业的职业认知复杂性与情景记忆回忆水平和 15 年变化的关系。我们使用以职业认知复杂性（O*NET 指标）作为自变量的潜在增长曲线模型。此外，还对中年（平均：49.9 岁）男性（n  = 260）样本进行了亚组分析，以调查18 岁时的一般认知能力 ( g ) 因素是否可以预测未来的职业认知复杂性和中年认知表现. 对于较旧的样本，较高水平的职业认知复杂性与较高水平的情景回忆相关（β = 0.15, p  < .001)，但与变化率的关联 ( β  = 0.03, p  = .64) 无统计学意义。在中年样本中，18 岁时的g直接（β  = 0.19，p  = .01）和间接（通过 18 岁以后的教育年限，ab  = 0.19）预测职业认知复杂性的中年水平。18 岁时的认知能力也是中年情景回忆的直接预测因子（β  = 0.60，p  ≤ 0.001）。至关重要的是，早期成人g因子的进入减弱了职业复杂性与认知水平之间的关联（来自β = 0.21，p  = .01 至β  = 0.12，p  = .14）。总体而言，我们的结果支持具有不同职业复杂性历史的个体从成年早期到晚期的保留分化模式。