Research Says People With Lower IQs Are More Likely To Binge Drink

A team from Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute studied personality and IQ data of nearly 50,000 Swedish men drafted into their country’s military between 1969 and 1971, Daily Mail reports.

A questionnaire regarding the soldiers’ relationship with alcohol and several IQ examinations were included in this data.

They found that those who drank the most in terms of quantity and frequency tended to have lower IQs.

Numerous other factors such as education and their families’ social and economic status also played a part, but researchers ultimately concluded a low intelligence level is clearly associated with binge drinking.

Daniel Falkstedt, a public health professor, said in the study,

In this study of a general population, intelligence probably comes before the behavior — in this case, alcohol consumption and a pattern of drinking in late adolescence.

It could be the other way around for a minority of individuals, that is, when exposure to alcohol has led to cognitive impairment. But this is less likely to be found among young persons.

Researcher Sara Sjolund noted that a low IQ may not always lead to a drinking problem depending on the individual’s childhood and even financial success as a young adult.

 

H/T EliteDaily.com 

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