Stay Informed

Sign up for news & alerts

Already signed up?
Login here

take action
For every $1 states spend dollar sign on substance misuse and addiction, 94 cents go to shovel up the consequences instead of for treatment and prevention. TELL YOUR LEGISLATORS

What Can I Do?



Continuing Education
Free online courses for addiction counselors LEARN ONLINE

Get Help
Need alcohol or drug help for yourself or someone else? GET HELP

 
Study Finds Link between High Childhood IQ and Adult Alcohol Use
October 22, 2008

Share Share Email
Email
Print
Print
SubscribeSubscribe
Research Summary

In a surprise finding, researchers in Scotland concluded that individuals with higher childhood intelligence scores could be more prone to drinking problems later in life, Reuters reported Oct. 21.

The study from the University of Glasgow also found that the association between high childhood IQ and adult drinking is stronger in women than men. The researchers admitted that the findings "ran counter to our expectations."

The study assessed the association between intelligence scores of 8,170 10-year-old boys and girls and their alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems at the age of 30. The researchers found that higher average scores on childhood mental ability tests correlated with indications of alcohol problems in adulthood.

The risk of adult problem drinking rose by a factor of 1.38 for women and 1.17 among men for every 15-point increase in childhood mental-ability score, the study authors found.

The study appeared in the October 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
This article summarizes an external report or press release on research published in a scientific journal. When available, links to the sources are provided above.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:
(Comments now appear first to last)

Posted by dave on 23 Oct 08 09:39 AM EDT
This would be consistent with the long ago study of children with IQs above 140. In later life they tended to be less happy than children with IQs closer to the average. These "genius" level children may be tempted to self-medicate the social anxiety associated with being so unusual. The risk factor here would be the same for other "unusual" children such as those with disabilities whether mental or physical.

Posted by Lucky Lucy on 23 Oct 08 11:41 AM EDT
Imagine being an extra-intelligent adult in Appalachia. No outlets, no encouragement, and no incentive to be yourself. Able to see all the yuk and be stuck in it. It's a wonder more of us aren't hitting the sauce.

Posted by Laurey on 23 Oct 08 11:46 AM EDT
How can anyone who has done counseling with alcoholics and is paying attention be surprised at this finding. One of the reasons I prefer to work with alcoholics is that they are typically intelligent, articulate beings, and very often round pegs who just can't seem to fit into the square holes that define society.

Posted by Kathy on 27 Oct 08 02:57 PM EDT
I concur with what Laurey said. MANY alcoholics and addicts are well above average individuals. My father, I believe was a genius and died of his alcoholism at age 46.

Posted by John on 27 Oct 08 03:01 PM EDT
My first reaction was similar to Laurey's---why were the researchers surprised? What did they expect? I also work with the "round pegs" who use alcohol as a way to cope. Alcohol is more acceptable across the board than any other drug.

Posted by Nana on 28 Oct 08 03:51 PM EDT
Not a surprise, especially when one considers that "smart girls" are regarded, in some quarters, as dweebs to be avoided at all costs. Hopefully this is changing-when I graduated from high school, the typical comment was "Why would a girl want to go to college? They're just going to get married and have kids anyway."

Posted by Harper on 18 Nov 08 04:47 PM EST
This doesn't surprise me. Most of the people I know in Recovery are unusually bright. But forget the "self-medication" explanation. Alcoholics are no more likely to have mental health problems than are non-alcoholics. On the other hand, over the past 14 years I've sponsored a lot of women and nearly all had social anxiety, which is correlated with intelligence. I say look for the genetics that cause intelligence and also cause addiction. Maybe smart alcoholics are more anxious because they are addicted.

Your Turn! Post a public comment (guidelines):

Name:

Comment:
(limit 250
words)
Enter this word
(help):		 Change

GUIDELINES: 
To keep this feature useful for everyone, please:

  1. Keep it clean, courteous, brief, and on-topic. Comments are for discussion of the above article, not general rants or manifestos. Serial comments intended to circumvent the 250-word limit may be deleted.

  2. Do not post promotional web links, personal information or requests for assistance (get help).

  3. Proof your comments carefully, use good spelling and punctuation, and don't use ALL CAPS. Comments are published immediately and cannot be edited.

Deceptive, slanderous and commercial posts are prohibited. We reserve the right to remove comments. (Report a comment).

Have questions or feedback? Contact us.