OBJECTIVES: We examined associations between job strain and trajectories of change in cognitive functioning (general cognitive ability plus verbal, spatial, memory, and speed domains) before and after retirement. METHODS: Data on indicators of job strain, retirement age, and cognitive factors were available from 307 members of the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging. Participants were followed up for up to 27 years (mean = 15.4, SD = 8.5). RESULTS: In growth curve analyses controlling for age, sex, education, depressive symptoms, cardiovascular health, and twinness, greater job strain was associated with general cognitive ability (estimate = -1.33, p = .002), worse memory (estimate = -1.22, p = .007), speed (estimate = -1.11, p = .012), and spatial ability (estimate = -0.96, p = .043) at retirement. Greater job strain was also associated with less improvement in general cognitive ability before retirement and a somewhat slower decline after retirement. The sex-stratified analyses showed that the smaller gains of general cognitive ability before retirement (estimate = -1.09, p = .005) were only observed in women. Domain-specific analyses revealed that greater job strain was associated with less improvement in spatial (estimate = -1.35, p = .010) and verbal (estimate = -0.64, p = .047) ability before retirement in women and a slower decline in memory after retirement in women (estimate = 0.85, p = .008) and men (estimate = 1.12, p = .013). Neither preretirement nor postretirement speed was affected significantly by job strain. DISCUSSION: Greater job strain may have a negative influence on overall cognitive functioning prior to and at retirement, while interrupting exposure to job strain (postretirement) may slow the rate of cognitive aging. Reducing the level of stress at work should be seen as a potential target for intervention to improve cognitive aging outcomes.

Aging Research Center Karolinska Institutet Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden

Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden

Department of Neurology 2nd Faculty of Medicine Charles University and Motol University Hospital Prague Czech Republic

Department of Psychology Indiana University Southeast New Albany USA

Department of Psychology University of Alabama at Birmingham USA

Department of Psychology University of Southern California Los Angeles USA

Institute for Gerontology Jönköping University Jönköping Sweden

School of Aging Studies University of South Florida Tampa USA

Stress Research Institute Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden

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