Childhood intelligence predicts premature mortality: Results from a 40-year population-based longitudinal study

Marius Wrulich; Gertraud Stadler; Martin Brunner; Ulrich Keller; Romain Martin

doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2015.06.003

Childhood intelligence predicts premature mortality: Results from a 40-year population-based longitudinal study

Marius Wrulich (Corresponding Author), Gertraud Stadler, Martin Brunner, Ulrich Keller, Romain Martin

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Abstract

Childhood intelligence has been shown to predict mortality risk in adulthood. This relation has never been investigated in a Central European country with universal health care. The present study investigated whether childhood intelligence predicts mortality risk across 40 years in Luxembourg. 2543 participants completed an intelligence test at age 12 in 1968, and the mortality rate in this sample until 2008 was recorded. Our results showed that higher childhood intelligence predicted a lower risk for mortality, even when childhood socioeconomic status was controlled for. This effect was strongest in men belonging to the group of the lowest 20% in intelligence. These results indicate that even universal access to health care cannot fully offset the cumulative effects of intelligence on mortality.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	6-10
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Research in Personality
Volume	58
Early online date	20 Jun 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2015.06.003
Publication status	Published - Oct 2015

Keywords

childhood intelligence
premature mortality
socioeconomic status
universal health care

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Wrulich Stadler et al. Intelligence and premature mortality Revised Manuscript
© 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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title = "Childhood intelligence predicts premature mortality: Results from a 40-year population-based longitudinal study",

abstract = "Childhood intelligence has been shown to predict mortality risk in adulthood. This relation has never been investigated in a Central European country with universal health care. The present study investigated whether childhood intelligence predicts mortality risk across 40 years in Luxembourg. 2543 participants completed an intelligence test at age 12 in 1968, and the mortality rate in this sample until 2008 was recorded. Our results showed that higher childhood intelligence predicted a lower risk for mortality, even when childhood socioeconomic status was controlled for. This effect was strongest in men belonging to the group of the lowest 20% in intelligence. These results indicate that even universal access to health care cannot fully offset the cumulative effects of intelligence on mortality.",

keywords = "childhood intelligence, premature mortality, socioeconomic status, universal health care",

author = "Marius Wrulich and Gertraud Stadler and Martin Brunner and Ulrich Keller and Romain Martin",

note = "Acknowledgements This study was supported by a grant from the Luxembourg Fonds National de la Recherche (VIVRE FNR/06/09/18) and a PhD scholarship awarded to the first author by the Fonds National de la Recherche.",

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AU - Wrulich, Marius

AU - Stadler, Gertraud

AU - Brunner, Martin

AU - Keller, Ulrich

AU - Martin, Romain

N1 - Acknowledgements This study was supported by a grant from the Luxembourg Fonds National de la Recherche (VIVRE FNR/06/09/18) and a PhD scholarship awarded to the first author by the Fonds National de la Recherche.

PY - 2015/10

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N2 - Childhood intelligence has been shown to predict mortality risk in adulthood. This relation has never been investigated in a Central European country with universal health care. The present study investigated whether childhood intelligence predicts mortality risk across 40 years in Luxembourg. 2543 participants completed an intelligence test at age 12 in 1968, and the mortality rate in this sample until 2008 was recorded. Our results showed that higher childhood intelligence predicted a lower risk for mortality, even when childhood socioeconomic status was controlled for. This effect was strongest in men belonging to the group of the lowest 20% in intelligence. These results indicate that even universal access to health care cannot fully offset the cumulative effects of intelligence on mortality.

AB - Childhood intelligence has been shown to predict mortality risk in adulthood. This relation has never been investigated in a Central European country with universal health care. The present study investigated whether childhood intelligence predicts mortality risk across 40 years in Luxembourg. 2543 participants completed an intelligence test at age 12 in 1968, and the mortality rate in this sample until 2008 was recorded. Our results showed that higher childhood intelligence predicted a lower risk for mortality, even when childhood socioeconomic status was controlled for. This effect was strongest in men belonging to the group of the lowest 20% in intelligence. These results indicate that even universal access to health care cannot fully offset the cumulative effects of intelligence on mortality.

KW - childhood intelligence

KW - premature mortality

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