WHAT ME WORRY? –
Oct. 8, 2025 – If intelligence and education help defend against alcohol addiction, then it isn’t about innate ability. It’s all about opportunity. Societies that foster cognitive development and educational equity might (indirectly) help curb a population’s addiction risk. Why do some people develop alcohol use disorder (AUD)? And why do other stay sober – even when they come from the same environment?
Questions like these drove the research behind a sweeping new study appearing in JAMA Psychiatry. In it, the authors suggest that (at least part of) the answer stems from the drinker’s intelligence – in more ways than one.
Drawing on data culled from more than half a million Swedish men and several international genetic datasets, researchers found that lower IQ at age 18 predicted a dramatically higher lifetime risk of alcohol use disorder. Those in the lowest IQ bracket faced a 43% higher adjusted risk than their average peers, even after accounting for socioeconomic background, family history, and coexisting psychiatric conditions.
