IQ in high school as a predictor of midlife alcohol drinking patterns | Hacker News Reader

IQ in high school as a predictor of midlife alcohol drinking patterns

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10 pointsAnon8411 comments

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Did they control for the fact that it's Wisconsin?

And the inevitable despair of being smart in Milwaukee.

Especially this week

Good point. Wisconsin is known to drive people to drink.

https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/do-wisconsin-residents-re...

> Good point. Wisconsin is known to drive people to drink.

I think you're misinterpreting that article. It's purely an observation that Wisconsinites self-reported more of what some team running a survey classified as "excessive drinking, there's nothing about causes.

I'm not from Wisconsin, but I know quote a lot of people who are, and I think the reason they drink so much is cultural: they have a much more relaxed attitude towards alcohol consumption, generally (e.g. aunts letting nephews/nieces drink at some family get-together). It's not so much they're "driven" to drink, they seem to enjoy it and not attach so much stigma to it.

That would hold if it weren't for the reported stat that the smarter you are in Wisconsin in the late 1950s, the more you drink.

Midwesterner here, this tracks. WI takes the cake but it also holds true for MN, MI, and IL. Hard working, hard drinking, good timing folks.

I read somewhere else here that children who get tested for IQ are tested because of some problems. This would introduce a bias.

Absolutely. I was tested for IQ at the age of 9 because of antisocial behavioral issues at school (mostly disruptive things). Thankfully, no midlife alcohol issues. Don't remember the details but apparently high IQ and "below average" spatial intelligence, which somewhat tracks. I cannot draw or paint to save my life, and have a hard time with estimating distances, levelness, etc.

https://archive.is/M04ez

“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.”

I believe IQ is mostly BS, however I’m sure those ‘high IQ’ folk are more likely to have higher responsibilities that include business development, networking and added stress. I don’t think the takeaway here is ‘smart people drink’.

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