Reconsidering the indicators of occupational complexity in the context of cognitive aging: Using the Japanese version of DOT and O-NET

Abstract

In the general life-course, people have engaged in occupational processes over extensive time periods. In the context of cognitive aging and health, there are more and more studies showing that mental activities on the job have been associated with cognitive functioning (in later life). To assess the mental activities of the occupational experiences (occupational complexity), some researchers have used DOT, originally developed in the U.S., while others have recently employed O*NET which replaced DOT. Although the Japanese version of DOT and O*NET (O-NET) was developed as well, the procedure and contents were different from those in the U.S. Therefore, it is unclear which database better accounts the occupational complexity in Japan. In this study, we obtained complexity scores from both databases for the same person’s occupational information and examined their associations with cognitive performance. The results indicated that complexity scores based on O-NET could better explain more variance in cognitive performance across the cognitive domains compared to DOT. Furthermore, this association was more pronounced for the older age group. Even though the Japanese version of DOT and O-NET did not correspond, it is suggested that the data from O-NET may reflect the various skills required to perform the complex job.