Lower IQ as a risk factor for diseases
A drop of 15 IQ points increases the risk of illness in later life by 22 percent
A recent study by the University of Vienna shows that a lower intelligence quotient (IQ) in teenagers and young adults is associated with an increased risk of physical and mental illness later in life. Psychologists at the University of Vienna have linked data on IQ from previous studies with health data, providing the first comprehensive overview of previous research on this topic. The results were published in the journal Communications Psychology.
The connection between IQ and later health has not yet been sufficiently clarified. In their current meta-analysis, the psychologists examined the relationship between IQ and health using 49 studies with a total of more than 2.9 million test subjects. The results show that 15 IQ points can already make a decisive difference. Teenagers and young adults who had 15 IQ points less than other participants already have a 22 percent higher risk of illness in later life.
Extensive database
The researchers conducted a systematic literature search and identified 49 relevant studies from tens of thousands of documents. These study results of intelligence tests from childhood and adolescence were then linked to later health data. The data came from 2.9 million test subjects from eight countries.
Further analyses showed that the significance of intelligence test performance for health appears to be lower in countries with better medical care. In addition, the level of education significantly influenced the correlation. This suggests that both health policy measures and educational initiatives could help to reduce health inequalities. Furthermore, health-related educational support could lead to a reduction in the observed correlation, particularly in children and adolescents.
Overall, this comprehensive meta-analysis shows that a lower IQ early in life should be considered an independent risk factor for physical and mental illness. The results underline the importance of intelligence for positive life events and show how important early promotion of cognitive development is for later health.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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