Early Life Predictors of Intelligence in Young Adulthood and Middle Age

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2020 Jan 29

PMID 31990952

Citations 7

Authors

Trine Flensborg-Madsen

Hanne-Lise Falgreen Eriksen

Erik Lykke Mortensen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Studies on early predictors of intelligence often focus on single or few predictors and often on childhood intelligence. This study compared the contributions of a broad selection of potential early predictors of intelligence at different adult ages.

Methods: Information on predictors was recorded prospectively in the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort during pregnancy, at delivery, and at 1- and 3-year examinations for children born between 1959-61. Adult intelligence was assessed at three independent follow-ups using three different tests of intelligence: Børge Priens Prøve, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and Intelligenz-Struktur-Test 2000R. From a total of 4697 cohort members, three non-overlapping samples were derived.

Results: The included predictors explained between 22.2-24.3% of the variance in adult IQ, with parental socioeconomic status and sex explaining 16.2-17.0%. Other consistent predictors were head circumference at birth, increase in head circumference head during the first three years, and 3-year milestones. Head circumference was the most important anthropometric measure compared to measures of weight and length.

Conclusion: Besides social status and sex, the strongest and most consistent early predictors of adult intelligence were physical or behavioural characteristics that to some extent reflect brain-and cognitive development.

Citing Articles

Head circumference and intelligence, schooling, employment, and income: a systematic review.

Freire M, Slater R, Santos T, da Silva B, Baxter L, Menezes A BMC Pediatr. 2024; 24(1):709.

PMID: 39511528 PMC: 11542250. DOI: 10.1186/s12887-024-05159-2.

Pesticide exposure, birth size, and gestational age in the ISA birth cohort, Costa Rica.

van Wendel de Joode B, Penaloza-Castaneda J, Mora A, Corrales-Vargas A, Eskenazi B, Hoppin J Environ Epidemiol. 2024; 8(2):e290.

PMID: 38617432 PMC: 11008631. DOI: 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000290.

Assessing harmonized intelligence measures in a multinational study.

DeSerisy M, Wall M, Goldberg T, Batistuzzo M, Keyes K, de Joode N Glob Ment Health (Camb). 2024; 11:e22.

PMID: 38572246 PMC: 10988151. DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2024.22.

Birth size, school performance and family social position: a study of 650,000 children.

Silventoinen K, Luukkonen J, Myrskyla M, Martikainen P Pediatr Res. 2023; 94(6):2105-2114.

PMID: 37516757 PMC: 10665183. DOI: 10.1038/s41390-023-02757-1.

Big data, machine learning, and population health: predicting cognitive outcomes in childhood.

Bowe A, Lightbody G, Staines A, Murray D Pediatr Res. 2022; 93(2):300-307.

PMID: 35681091 PMC: 7614199. DOI: 10.1038/s41390-022-02137-1.

References

Flensborg-Madsen T, Mortensen E . Predictors of motor developmental milestones during the first year of life. Eur J Pediatr. 2016; 176(1):109-119. DOI: 10.1007/s00431-016-2817-4. View

Pearce M, Deary I, Young A, Parker L . Growth in early life and childhood IQ at age 11 years: the Newcastle Thousand Families Study. Int J Epidemiol. 2005; 34(3):673-7. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyi038. View

Graham J . Missing data analysis: making it work in the real world. Annu Rev Psychol. 2008; 60:549-76. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085530. View

Mortensen E, Sorensen H, Jensen H, Reinisch J, Mednick S . IQ and mental disorder in young men. Br J Psychiatry. 2005; 187:407-15. DOI: 10.1192/bjp.187.5.407. View

Falgreen Eriksen H, Kesmodel U, Underbjerg M, Kilburn T, Bertrand J, Mortensen E . Predictors of intelligence at the age of 5: family, pregnancy and birth characteristics, postnatal influences, and postnatal growth. PLoS One. 2013; 8(11):e79200. PMC: 3827334. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079200. View

Teasdale T . The Danish draft board's intelligence test, Børge Priens Prøve: psychometric properties and research applications through 50 years. Scand J Psychol. 2009; 50(6):633-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00789.x. View

Flensborg-Madsen T, Mortensen E . Birth Weight and Intelligence in Young Adulthood and Midlife. Pediatrics. 2017; 139(6). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-3161. View

Mortensen E, Michaelsen K, Sanders S, Reinisch J . The association between duration of breastfeeding and adult intelligence. JAMA. 2002; 287(18):2365-71. DOI: 10.1001/jama.287.18.2365. View

Smithers L, Lynch J, Yang S, Dahhou M, Kramer M . Impact of neonatal growth on IQ and behavior at early school age. Pediatrics. 2013; 132(1):e53-60. PMC: 4530288. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-3497. View

10.

Mortensen E, Michaelsen K, Sanders S, Reinisch J . A dose-response relationship between maternal smoking during late pregnancy and adult intelligence in male offspring. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2005; 19(1):4-11. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3016.2004.00622.x. View

11.

Reinisch J, Mortensen E, Sanders S . The Prenatal Development Project. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl. 1993; 370:54-61. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1993.tb05361.x. View

12.

Bates T, Lewis G, Weiss A . Childhood socioeconomic status amplifies genetic effects on adult intelligence. Psychol Sci. 2013; 24(10):2111-6. DOI: 10.1177/0956797613488394. View

13.

Mortensen E, Flensborg-Madsen T, Molbo D, Fagerlund B, Christensen U, Lund R . The relationship between cognitive ability and demographic factors in late midlife. J Aging Health. 2014; 26(1):37-53. DOI: 10.1177/0898264313508780. View

14.

Rudolf M, Logan S . What is the long term outcome for children who fail to thrive? A systematic review. Arch Dis Child. 2005; 90(9):925-31. PMC: 1720590. DOI: 10.1136/adc.2004.050179. View

15.

Batty G, Deary I, Gottfredson L . Premorbid (early life) IQ and later mortality risk: systematic review. Ann Epidemiol. 2006; 17(4):278-88. DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2006.07.010. View

16.

Strom M, Mortensen E, Kesmodel U, Halldorsson T, Olsen J, Olsen S . Is breast feeding associated with offspring IQ at age 5? Findings from prospective cohort: Lifestyle During Pregnancy Study. BMJ Open. 2019; 9(5):e023134. PMC: 6549733. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023134. View

17.

Dupont C, Castellanos-Ryan N, Seguin J, Muckle G, Simard M, Shapiro G . The Predictive Value of Head Circumference Growth during the First Year of Life on Early Child Traits. Sci Rep. 2018; 8(1):9828. PMC: 6026134. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28165-8. View

18.

Myrskyla M, Silventoinen K, Tynelius P, Rasmussen F . Is later better or worse? Association of advanced parental age with offspring cognitive ability among half a million young Swedish men. Am J Epidemiol. 2013; 177(7):649-55. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kws237. View

19.

Alati R, Macleod J, Hickman M, Sayal K, May M, Davey Smith G . Intrauterine exposure to alcohol and tobacco use and childhood IQ: findings from a parental-offspring comparison within the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Pediatr Res. 2008; 64(6):659-66. DOI: 10.1203/PDR.0b013e318187cc31. View

20.

Gajos J, Beaver K . The Role of Paternal Age in the Prediction of Offspring Intelligence. J Genet Psychol. 2017; 178(6):319-333. PMC: 6324179. DOI: 10.1080/00221325.2017.1377678. View