Cognitive development in childhood and drinking behaviour over two decades in adulthood

Sociobehavioral, Biological, and Health Characteristics of Riverside People in the Xingu Region, Pará, Brazil

This study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic, behavioral, and biological profile and its relationship with the emergence of chronic non-communicable diseases in riverside populations in the Xingu region, Pará, Brazil. Characteristics related to health indicators and which risk factors are considered most important were analyzed. This is a cross-sectional, exploratory, and descriptive study. The sample consisted of riverside people of over 18 years of both sexes. The sample size (n = 86) was calculated with a confidence level of 95% and a sample error of 5%. The K-means clustering algorithm was adopted through an unsupervised method to divide the groups, and the values were expressed as a median. For continuous and categorical data, the Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests were used, respectively, and the significance level was set at p < 5%. The multi-layer perceptron algorithm was applied to classify the degree of importance of each variable. Based on this information, the sample was divided into two groups: the group with low or no education, with bad habits and worse health conditions, and the group with opposite characteristics. The risk factors considered for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in the groups were low education (p < 0.001), sedentary lifestyle (p < 0.01), smoking, alcoholism, body mass index (p < 0.05), and waist-hip ratio, with values above the expected being observed in both groups. The factors considered important so as to be considered to have good health condition or not were the educational and social conditions of these communities, and one part of the riverside population was considered healthier than the other.

Intelligence, alcohol consumption, and adverse consequences. A study of young Norwegian men

Aims:

Research suggests that intelligence is positively related to alcohol consumption. However, some studies of people born around 1950, particularly from Sweden, have reported that higher intelligence is associated with lower consumption and fewer alcohol-related problems. We investigated the relationships between intelligence, alcohol consumption, and adverse consequences of drinking in young men from Norway (a neighboring Scandinavian country) born in the late 1970s.

Methods:

This analysis was based on the population-based Young in Norway Longitudinal Study. Our sample included young men who had been followed from their mid-teens until their late 20s (n = 1126). Measures included self-reported alcohol consumption/intoxication, alcohol use disorders (AUDIT), and a scale measuring adverse consequences of drinking. Controls included family background, parental bonding, and parents’ and peers’ drinking. Intelligence test scores—scaled in 9 “stanines” (population mean of 5 and standard deviation of 2)—were taken from conscription assessment.

Results:

Men with higher intelligence scores reported average drinking frequency and slightly fewer adverse consequences in their early 20s. In their late 20s, they reported more frequent drinking than men with lower intelligence scores (0.30 more occasions per week, per stanine, age adjusted; 95% CI: 0.12 to 0. 49). Intelligence was not associated with intoxication frequency at any age and did not moderate the relationships between drinking frequency and adverse consequences.

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that the relationship between intelligence and drinking frequency is age dependent. Discrepancies with earlier findings from Sweden may be driven by changes in drinking patterns.

Childhood language development and later alcohol use behaviors

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown a correlation between language abilities and alcohol use; however, results are inconsistent. A recent study using a discordant twin design showed an association between early child language development and later alcohol use behaviors; i.e., the twin with more advanced language abilities was more likely to try alcohol earlier in adolescence (Latvala et al., 2014). The authors suggested that this could result from better socialization of individuals with greater language abilities, which could lead to more opportunities for alcohol experimentation. The findings by Latvala et al. raise interesting questions, but the study has limitations, and replication is needed.

METHOD

We aimed to replicate and build upon these results utilizing 488 same sex twin pairs from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study, a longitudinal sample with quantitative measures of language abilities starting when the twins were 14 months old.

RESULTS

We found no significant correlations between a latent measure of child language abilities or measures of general cognitive ability at ages 14, 20, and 24 months and a latent alcohol use variable at ages 17 and 22 years.

CONCLUSION

Our results did not replicate the association between early language ability and later alcohol use reported by Latvala et al. Possible reasons for differing results across samples, including varying cultural norms as well as differences in educational attainment, peer influences, and novelty seeking, were discussed.

Early life cognitive function and health behaviours in late childhood: testing the neuroselection hypothesis

Background

Higher cognitive function in childhood is associated with healthier behaviours and a reduced risk of chronic disease in adulthood, but it is unclear whether this selection of healthier behaviours occurs in childhood or later in life. The present study investigated how cognitive function at age 3–7 years was associated with health behaviours at age 11.

Methods

Verbal, non-verbal and spatial abilities were assessed using the British Ability Scales at ages 3–7. At age 11, children reported how often they engaged in sport/physical activity, sedentary behaviours (eg, reading and games console usage), cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds of engaging in health behaviours at age 11 according to early life cognition.

Results

A 1 SD increase in early childhood verbal ability was associated with reduced odds of attempting smoking in boys and girls (OR 0.69 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.84)) and reduced odds of computer gaming in girls (OR 0.79 (95% CI 0.72 to 0.86)) by age 11. Early childhood verbal ability was also associated with reduced odds of regular participation in sport/active games (boys: OR 0.91 (95% CI 0.84 to 0.99); girls: OR 0.81 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.88)) and increased odds of reading for enjoyment (boys: OR 1.47 (95% CI 1.35 to 1.60); girls: OR 1.48 (95% CI 1.36 to 1.62)) at age 11. Early childhood non-verbal ability was associated with reduced odds of alcohol consumption in boys and girls (OR 0.92 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.99)) and reduced odds of online messaging in boys (OR 0.89 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98)) at age 11. Early childhood spatial ability was associated with reduced odds of participating in sport/active games in boys at age 11 (OR 0.88 (95% CI 0.82 to 0.95).

Conclusion

Neuroselection may occur during early childhood resulting in some, but not all, healthier behaviours by age 11.

Comorbidity trajectories in working age cancer survivors: A national study of Swedish men

BACKGROUND

A large proportion of cancer survivors are of working age, and maintaining health is of interest both for their working and private life. However, patterns and determinants of comorbidity over time among adult cancer survivors are incompletely described. We aimed to identify distinct comorbidity trajectories and their potential determinants.

METHODS

In a cohort study of Swedish men born between 1952 and 1956, men diagnosed with cancer between 2000 and 2003 (n=878) were matched with cancer-free men (n=4340) and followed over five years after their first year of survival. Comorbid diseases were identified using hospital diagnoses and included in the analysis using group-based trajectory modelling. The association of socioeconomic and developmental characteristics were assessed using multinomial logit models.

RESULTS

Four distinct comorbidity trajectories were identified. As many as 84% of cancer survivors remained at very low levels of comorbidity, and the distribution of trajectories was similar among the cancer survivors and the cancer-free men. Increases in comorbidity were seen among those who had comorbid disease at baseline and among those with poor summary disease scores in adolescence. Socioeconomic characteristics and physical, cognitive and psychological function were associated with types of trajectory in unadjusted models but did not retain independent relationships with them after simultaneous adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS

Among working-age male cancer survivors, the majority remained free or had very low levels of comorbidity. Those with poorer health in adolescence and pre-existing comorbid diseases at cancer diagnosis may, however, benefit from follow-up to prevent further increases in comorbidity.

Adolescent Self-Organization and Adult Smoking and Drinking over Fifty Years of Follow-Up: The British 1946 Birth Cohort

Variations in markers of adolescent self-organization predict a range of economic and health-related outcomes in general population studies. Using a population-based birth cohort study we investigated associations between adolescent self-organization and two common factors over adulthood influencing health, smoking and alcohol consumption. The MRC National Survey of Health and Development (the British 1946 birth cohort) was used to test associations between a dimensional measure of adolescent self-organization derived from teacher ratings, and summary longitudinal measures of smoking and alcohol consumption over the ensuing five decades. Multinomial regression models were adjusted for sex, adolescent emotional and conduct problems, occupational social class of origin, childhood cognition, educational attainment and adult occupational social class. With all covariates adjusted, higher adolescent self-organization was associated with fewer smoking pack years, although not with quitting; there was no association with alcohol consumption across adulthood (none or heavy compared with light to moderate). Adolescent self-organization appears to be protective against smoking, but not against heavy alcohol consumption. Interpretation of this differential effect should be embedded in an understanding of the social and sociodemographic context in which these health behaviours occur over time.

The stability of alcohol consumption between age 16 and 26: Evidence from a National Birth Cohort Study

This study examined the association between moderate drinking at age 16 (adolescence) and alcohol consumption at age 26 (young adulthood), whilst controlling for possible confounding effects at the individual and family level (assessed at birth and age 10). Using the British Cohort Study (BCS70), 6515 respondents provided data on their adolescent alcohol consumption and other behaviours. Of these, 4392 also completed the survey at age 26. Consumption patterns established in adolescence persisted, to a large degree, into early adulthood. Those adolescents who drank moderately in adolescence drank significantly less in adulthood than those adolescents who drank to heavy or hazardous levels. Implications for health promotion strategies and guidance are discussed.

IQ and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality among Swedish men and women: the importance of socioeconomic position

Aims

To investigate the association between intelligence in childhood and later risk of alcohol-related disease and death by examining (1) the mediating effect of social position as an adult and (2) gender as a possible moderator.

Design

Cohort study.

Setting and participants

21 809 Swedish men and women, born in 1948 and 1953, from the Swedish “Evaluation Through Follow-up” database were followed until 2006/2007.

Measurements

IQ was measured in school at the age of 13 and alcohol-related disease and death (International Classification of Disease codes) were followed from 1971 and onwards.

Findings

We found an increased crude HR of 1.23 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.29) for every decrease in group of IQ test results for alcohol-related admissions and 1.14 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.24) for alcohol-related death. Social position as an adult was found to mediate both outcomes. Gender was not found to moderate the association. However, adjusting for socioeconomic position lowered the risk more among men than among women.

Conclusions

There was an inverse, graded association between IQ and alcohol-related disease and death, which at least partially was mediated by social position as an adult. For alcohol-related death, complete mediation by socioeconomic position as an adult was found. Gender does not moderate this association. The role of socioeconomic position may differ between the genders.

Intelligence and Disability Pension in Swedish Men and Women Followed from Childhood to Late Middle Age

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association between intelligence and disability pension due to mental, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and substance-use disorders among men and women, and to assess the role of childhood social factors and adulthood work characteristics.

METHODS

Two random samples of men and women born 1948 and 1953 (n = 10 563 and 9 434), and tested for general intelligence at age 13, were followed in registers for disability pension until 2009. Physical and psychological strains in adulthood were assessed using job exposure matrices. Associations were examined using Cox proportional hazard regression models, with increases in rates reported as hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) per decrease in stanine intelligence.

RESULTS

In both men and women increased risks were found for disability pension due to all causes, musculoskeletal disorder, mental disorder other than substance use, and cardiovascular disease as intelligence decreased. Increased risk was also found for substance use disorder in men. In multivariate models, HRs were attenuated after controlling for pre-school plans in adolescence, and low job control and high physical strain in adulthood. In the fully adjusted model, increased HRs remained for all causes (male HR 1.11, 95%CI 1.07-1.15, female HR 1.06, 95%CI 1.02-1.09) and musculoskeletal disorder (male HR 1.16, 95%CI 1.09-1.24, female HR 1.08, 95%CI 1.03-1.14) during 1986 to 2009.

CONCLUSION

Relatively low childhood intelligence is associated with increased risk of disability pension due to musculoskeletal disorder in both men and women, even after adjustment for risk factors for disability pension measured over the life course.

Childhood verbal development and drinking behaviors from adolescence to young adulthood: a discordant twin-pair analysis

BACKGROUND

Studies suggest that better cognitive and verbal abilities in childhood predict earlier experimentation with alcohol and higher levels of drinking in adolescence, whereas poorer ability is related to a higher likelihood of remaining abstinent. Whether individual differences in language development in childhood predict differences in adolescent drinking behaviors has not been studied.

METHODS

To address that question, we compared co-twins from twin pairs discordant for their childhood language development and studied associations of parental reports of within-pair differences in age at speaking words, age at learning to read, and expressive language skills during school age with self-reported within-pair differences in drinking, intoxication, and alcohol-related problems across adolescence and young adulthood. Data from 2 longitudinal population-based samples of twin families were used, with verbal developmental differences in childhood reported by the parents when the twins were 12 and 16 years of age, respectively.

RESULTS

Conditional logistic regression analyses and within-pair correlation analyses suggested positive associations between verbal development and drinking behaviors in both data sets. In analyses adjusted for birth order and birth weight, the co-twin reported to be verbally more advanced in childhood tended to report more frequent drinking and intoxication in adolescence in both samples. Better verbal development also was associated with the likelihood of having friends who drink in adolescence.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that, adjusting for familial and other factors shared by co-twins, better verbal development in childhood predicts more frequent drinking and intoxication in adolescence and young adulthood, possibly due, in part, to peer associations.

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

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.

Psychosocial problems in childhood and later alcohol consumption: a life course approach with historical information

AIMS

Childhood psychosocial problems have been associated with poor alcohol habits in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to investigate further the association in men by using information from historical health records.

METHODS

As part of the epidemiological FinDrink Study, we examined the association between childhood psychosocial problems and total ethanol consumption, binge drinking, and abstinence in later life among Finnish men. The participants were a sample from the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD), a population-based cohort study in eastern Finland. The data on childhood psychosocial factors were collected from health records (n = 952, 35.5% of the entire study sample), mainly from the 1930s to the 1950s. Questionnaire data on alcohol consumption were obtained from the baseline examinations of the KIHD cohort in 1984-1989.

RESULTS

Controlling for age and examination year, the men who had been considered psychosocially disadvantaged by elementary school nurses had a 2.72-fold (95% confidence interval 1.30-5.65) risk of bingeing on fortified wine in later life. After adjustment for adulthood behavioural and socioeconomic factors the association (odds ratio 3.71, 95% confidence interval 1.56-8.84) appeared even stronger. Childhood psychosocial problems also contributed to abstinence, but did not appear to increase the total amount of ethanol consumed.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychosocial problems observed in boys seem to contribute to different alcohol habits in later life. However, the factors eventually involved in the manifestation of problematic drinking patterns through the life course still require further research.

Genetic origins of the association between verbal ability and alcohol dependence symptoms in young adulthood

BACKGROUND

Cognitive deficits in alcohol dependence (AD) have been observed, poorer verbal ability being among the most consistent findings. Genetic factors influence both cognitive ability and AD, but whether these influences overlap is not known.

METHOD

A subset of 602 monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from FinnTwin16, a population-based study of Finnish twins, was used to study the associations of verbal ability with DSM-III-R diagnosis and symptoms of AD, the maximum number of drinks consumed in a 24-h period, and the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) scores. These twins, most of them selected for within-pair discordance or concordance for their RAPI scores at age 18.5 years, were studied with neuropsychological tests and interviewed with the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) in young adulthood (mean age 26.2 years, range 23-30 years).

RESULTS

All alcohol problem measures were associated with lower scores on the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (WAIS-R), a measure of verbal ability. In bivariate genetic models, Vocabulary and the alcohol problem measures had moderate heritabilities (0.54-0.72), and their covariation could be explained by correlated genetic influences (genetic correlations -0.20 to -0.31).

CONCLUSIONS

Poorer verbal ability and AD have partly overlapping biological etiology. The genetic and environmental influences on the development of cognitive abilities, alcohol problems and risk factors for AD should be studied further with prospective longitudinal designs.

Executive function and survival in the context of chronic illness

BACKGROUND

Individual differences in executive function (EF) have been shown to predict risk factors for chronic illness. It is not currently known whether EFs also predict survival time following a diagnosis of a chronic illness.

PURPOSE

The objective of this investigation was to examine the association between individual differences in EF and survival time among individuals suffering from one or more chronic illness.

METHODS

A sample of 162 community-dwelling older adults who suffered from a chronic illness at baseline underwent thorough medical and neurological examinations to ensure freedom from actual or probable dementia. Participants completed cognitive testing and were subsequently followed for 10 years; survival was assessed as survival time over the follow-up interval.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that individual differences in EF predicted survival time, and this association held when adjustments were made for demographic variables (age, sex), education, and body mass index.

CONCLUSION

Individual differences in EF may be important determinants of survival in the context of chronic illness.

Education, alcohol use and abuse among young adults in Britain

In this article we explore the relationship between education and alcohol consumption. We examine whether the probability of abusing alcohol differs across educational groups. We use data from the British Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of one week's birth in Britain in 1970. We analysed data collected at age 34 (in 2004) and complement it with information gathered at previous sweeps. Measures of alcohol abuse include alcohol consumption above NHS guidelines, daily alcohol consumption and problem drinking. We found that higher educational attainment is associated with increased odds of daily alcohol consumption and problem drinking. The relationship is stronger for females than males. Individuals who achieved high educational test scores in childhood are at a significantly higher risk of abusing alcohol across all dimensions. Our results also suggest that educational qualifications and academic performance are associated with the probability of belonging to different typologies of alcohol consumers among women while this association is not present in the case of educational qualifications and is very weak in the case of academic performance among males.

Do early life exposures explain associations in mid-adulthood between workplace factors and risk factors for cardiovascular disease?

BACKGROUND

Workplace factors (night work, long working hours, psychosocial work stress) have been reported to be associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We investigated whether (i) workplace factors are associated with CVD risk factors independently of each other, (ii) workplace factors interact, thereby modifying associations and (iii) associations are explained by early life exposures.

METHODS

A total of 7916 employed participants in the 1958 British birth cohort underwent a clinical assessment at age 45 years. Regression analysis was used to examine associations between workplace factors and CVD risk factor levels with adjustment for early life exposures.

RESULTS

Night work was associated with adverse levels of most CVD risk factors. Working > or =48 h/week was positively associated with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Low job control was positively associated with glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and inflammatory factors, and inversely associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. Low demands were positively associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP), triglycerides and inflammatory factors and inversely associated with HDL-cholesterol. Several associations were weakened when workplace factors were adjusted for each other. Night workers in low-demand jobs had higher BMI [0.78 kg/m(2); 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35, 1.21], WC (1.49 cm; 0.45, 2.52) and SBP (1.38 mmHg; -0.04, 2.81). HDL was lower for low control plus night work (-0.04 mmol/l; -0.08, -0.01) or long hours (-0.12; -0.18, -0.69). Adjustment for early life exposures explained 30-50% of most associations, e.g. night work/low demands associations reduced by 50% for BMI and WC, and by 39% for SBP.

CONCLUSIONS

Associations between workplace factors and CVD risk factors in mid-adulthood arise in part from social and health disadvantage originating earlier in life.

Childhood cognition and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in midadulthood: the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study

OBJECTIVES

We sought to establish whether associations between childhood cognition and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adulthood are explained by common causes, or adult social position or health behavior.

METHODS

We analyzed associations between cognition at age 11 and cardiovascular disease risk factors at age 45 in the 1958 British birth cohort (n=9377), with and without adjustment for covariates.

RESULTS

General ability was inversely associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin, triglycerides (in women), body mass index, and waist circumference. Systolic blood pressure decreased by 0.47 mm Hg (95% confidence interval [CI]=-0.90, -0.05) for a 1-standard-deviation increase in ability. Separate adjustment for social class at birth, education level by adulthood, adult social class, and health behaviors reduced the associations respectively by 14% to 34%, 36% to 50%, 14% to 36%, and 24% to 73%. Full adjustment reduced associations between ability and risk factors at age 45 years by 43% to 92%, abolishing all associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Increments across the distribution of childhood cognition are associated with improvements in cardiovascular risk profile in midlife, with associations primarily mediated through adult health behavior and social destinations.