Summary: A new study shows that individuals with higher IQs in high school are more likely to consume alcohol moderately or heavily later in life, though less likely to binge drink. This connection may be due to social factors, such as income level and career stress, that often accompany higher IQs.
Researchers used data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, revealing that each IQ point increase correlated with a 1.6% rise in moderate or heavy drinking. The findings underline a complex relationship between cognition and drinking behaviors, though more diverse research samples are needed.
While income is partially responsible for this link, other underlying social dynamics may also influence these patterns. The study highlights the importance of further exploration into how cognition and lifestyle factors intersect with alcohol use.
Key Facts:
- Higher IQ in high school is associated with a greater likelihood of moderate or heavy drinking.
- Income level and career stress are partial influencers in the IQ-alcohol use link.
- Study results emphasize the need for further research in diverse populations.
Source: UT Southwestern
A person’s IQ during high school is predictive of alcohol consumption later in life, according to a study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers published in Alcohol and Alcoholism. Participants with higher IQ levels were significantly more likely to be moderate or heavy drinkers, as opposed to abstaining.
“We’re not saying that your IQ in high school controls your destiny,” said senior author E. Sherwood Brown, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., Distinguished Teaching Professor of Psychiatry and in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern.
“But IQ levels could lead to intervening social factors that influence drinking, and it’s an important mechanism to explore. Higher IQ seemed to predict a greater likelihood of being a moderate or heavy drinker but not a binge drinker.”
Although Dr. Brown and UTSW colleagues have conducted numerous studies about alcohol use disorder, he said this is the first to examine predictors of drinking patterns.
Alcohol consumption is on the rise among adults, with excessive drinking linked to high blood pressure, cancer, stroke, and other diseases as people age. At the same time, Dr. Brown explained, some research comparing abstinence with moderate drinking has found a link between cognitive ability and future alcohol use.
“That led me to wonder, if alcohol influences cognition, could cognition affect alcohol consumption?” 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. The participants were born around 1939.
UTSW researchers used a random sample of 8,254 survey participants who answered questions about their drinking habits in 1992 and 2004, when they would have been about 53 and 65 years old.
Moderate drinking was categorized as 1 to 29 drinks per month for women and 1 to 59 drinks for men, and heavy drinking as 30 drinks or more per month for women and 60 drinks or more for men. Those with higher IQs were less likely to binge drink, measured at five or more drinks in one session.
The researchers found 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 partially influenced the relationship between IQ and drinking habits, potentially because higher IQ may lead to stressful jobs or more opportunities for social drinking among high earners.
“While it’s not possible to capture all the underlying mechanisms that mediate the relationship between drinking and IQ, we know that income partially explains the pathway between the two,” said study co-author Jayme Palka, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry.
Men reported more binge-drinking episodes than women, supporting previous studies showing men are more likely to engage in hazardous drinking patterns than women.
Because the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study consisted of 99% white non-Hispanic participants, the research team emphasized the need for further research with a more diverse sample.
About this IQ and AUD research news
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.
“IQ in high school as a predictor of midlife alcohol drinking patterns” by E. Sherwood Brown et al. Alcohol and Alcoholism
Abstract
IQ in high school as a predictor of midlife alcohol drinking patterns
Aims
The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between adolescent IQ and midlife alcohol use and to explore possible mediators of this relationship.
Methods
Study data were from 6300 men and women who participated in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study of high-school students graduating in 1957. IQ scores were collected during the participants’ junior year of high school. 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 conducted to determine the relationship between adolescent IQ and future drinking pattern (abstainer, moderate drinker, or heavy drinker), and Poisson regression was used to examine the number of binge-drinking episodes. Two mediators—income and education—were also explored.
Results
Every one-point increase in IQ score was associated with a 1.6% increase in the likelihood of reporting moderate or heavy drinking as compared to abstinence. Those with higher IQ scores also had significantly fewer binge-drinking episodes. Household income, but not education, partially mediated the relationship between IQ and drinking pattern.
Conclusions
The present study suggests that higher adolescent IQ may predict a higher likelihood of moderate or heavy drinking in midlife, but fewer binge-drinking episodes. The study also suggests that this relationship is mediated by other psychosocial factors, specifically income, prompting future exploration of mediators in subsequent studies.
