Summary: A recent study found that those with higher IQs in high school are more likely to drink moderately or greatly later in life, but less likely to binge beverage. This relation may be brought on by cultural factors that frequently come with higher IQs, such as income levels and work stress.
Using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, researchers discovered that a 1.6 % rise in moderate or heavy drinking was related to a 1.6 % increase in IQ. The findings highlight a complicated link between eating habits and thinking, despite the need for more varied research samples.
Although money is a contributing factor to this link, different underlying social dynamics may also have an impact on these patterns. The research emphasizes the need for further investigation into how life and cognitional factors interact with alcohol use.
Important Facts:
- Higher IQ in high school is related to a higher probability of average or extensive eating.
- The IQ-alcohol employ website has a few factors, but only income and job stress are significant.
- The findings of the study emphasize the need for more research in various groups.
Origin: UT Southwestern
A woman’s IQ during high school is forecast of alcohol use later in life, according to a study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers , published , in , Alcohol and Alcoholism. Individuals with higher IQ levels were significantly more likely to have mild or heavy drinking habits than to refrain.
” We’re not saying that your IQ in high class controls your destiny”, said senior author E. Sherwood Brown, M. D., Ph. D., M. B. A., Distinguished Teaching Professor of Psychiatry and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Mind Institute at UT Southwestern.
” But IQ amounts could lead to intervening , cultural factors , that influence drinking, and it’s an essential method to explore. Higher IQ levels suggested that moderate or large drinking but no binge drinking was more common.
Although Dr. Brown and UTSW associates have conducted numerous studies about , alcohol use disorder, he said this is the first to observe indicators of drinking habits.
Alcohol use is on the rise among people, with extreme having linked to , high blood pressure, cancer, strokes, and other conditions as people age. At the same time, Dr. Brown explained, some studies comparing contraception with , average drinking , has found a link between mental ability and potential alcohol use.
” That led me to know, if alcohol influences consciousness, had thinking affect , drinking use”? he said.
To find the answer, Dr. Brown and UTSW colleagues turned to data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, a dataset composed of IQ and lifestyle information from more than 10, 000 Wisconsin , high school seniors , beginning in 1957. Around 1939, the participants were born.
The survey participants who responded to questions about their drinking habits in 1992 and 2004 when they would have been between the ages of 53 and 65 were used by UTSW researchers as a random sample of 8, 254.
Heavy drinking is defined as 30 drinks or more per month for women and 60 drinks or more per month for men, and moderate drinking was defined as 1 to 29 drinks per month for women and 1 to 59 drinks per month for men. Higher IQs were less likely to binge drink, which is measured by having five or more drinks in one session.
The researchers discovered that for every one-point increase in IQ, there was a corresponding 1.6 % increase in the likelihood that respondents reported moderate or heavy alcohol use.
Income level may have a role to play in the relationship between IQ and drinking habits, as higher IQ may result in more stressful jobs or more social opportunities for high earners.
We know that income partially accounts for the relationship between drinking and IQ, according to study co-author Jayme Palka, Ph.D. D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry.
Men reported more binge drinking than women, which supports previous research that found men were more likely than women to engage in risky drinking behaviors.
The research team stressed the need for further study with a more diverse sample because the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study had 99 % of its participants white non-Hispanic.
About this news about AUD and IQ research
Author: E. Sherwood Brown
Source: UT Southwestern
Contact: E. Sherwood Brown – UT Southwestern
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Closed access.
E. Sherwood Brown and colleagues ‘” High school IQ as a predictor of alcohol consumption in the middle of one’s life.” Alcohol and Alcoholism
Abstract
High school IQ as a predictor of alcohol consumption in the middle of one’s life
Aims
The purpose of the present study was to examine the link between midlife alcohol use and adolescent IQ and to look for potential mediators.
Methods
The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study of high-school graduates graduating in 1957 collected study data from 6300 men and women. During the participants ‘ junior year of high school, IQ scores were gathered. In 2004, participants reported the number of alcoholic beverages consumed ( past 30 , days ) and the number of binge-drinking episodes. A multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the number of binge-drinking episodes in order to determine the relationship between adolescent IQ and future drinking habits ( abstainer, moderate, or heavy drinker ). Two mediators—income and education—were also explored.
Results
As a result of each one-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of reporting moderate or heavy drinking increased by 1.6 %, compared to abstinence. Higher IQ scores also resulted in fewer binge-drinking episodes. Household income, but not education, partially mediated the relationship between IQ and drinking pattern.
Conclusions
Higher adolescent IQ may indicate a higher likelihood of moderate or heavy drinking in the middle of a child’s life, but less frequent binge-drinking episodes are suggested by the present study. Further research suggests that other psychosocial factors, particularly income, play a role in this relationship, which will spur the development of mediators in subsequent studies.
