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Intelligence quotient in childhood and the risk of illegal drug use in middle-age: the 1958 National Child Development Survey.

White, JW; Gale, CR; Batty, GD; (2012) Intelligence quotient in childhood and the risk of illegal drug use in middle-age: the 1958 National Child Development Survey. Annals of Epidemiology , 22 (9) 654 - 657. 10.1016/j.annepidem.2012.06.001. Green open access

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Abstract

Purpose: High childhood IQ test scores have been associated with increased alcohol dependency and use in adult life, but the relationship between childhood IQ and illegal drug use in later life is unclear. Methods: Participants were 6713 members of the 1958 National Child Development Survey whose IQ was assessed at 11 years and had their lifetime illegal drug use measured at 42 years of age. Results: In analyses adjusted for a range of covariates, a 1 SD (15-point) increase in IQ scores was associated with an increased risk of illegal drug use in women: ever using cannabis (odds ratio [OR], 1.30; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.16–1.45), cocaine (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.21–2.27), amphetamines (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.22–1.83), amyl nitrate (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.30–2.46) and “magic mushrooms” (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.18–1.98). Associations were of lower magnitude in men. Conclusions: In this cohort, high childhood IQ was related to illegal drug use in adulthood.

Type: Article
Title: Intelligence quotient in childhood and the risk of illegal drug use in middle-age: the 1958 National Child Development Survey.
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2012.06.001
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2012.06.001
Language: English
Additional information: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords: Adult, Child, Child Development, Cohort Studies, Educational Status, England, Female, Humans, Incidence, Intelligence, Intelligence Tests, Male, Risk Assessment, Scotland, Substance-Related Disorders, Wales
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1373234
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