Today I found an article that was of particular interest to me, as I am currently studying substance abuse in psychology I found something that can possibly explain a persons need to start or continue the taking of drugs. The title being "High Childhood IQ Linked to Subsequent Illicit Drug Use, Research Suggests" catching my eye. It explains that a high childhood IQ may be linked to illegal drug use, the results were more persuading in regards to women. At first this may seem very unlikely, but when you discover that it is a longditudinal study of approximately 8000 people the results seem much more convincing.
At first IQ scores were measured at the ages of 5 and 10 years and then at the ages of 16 and again at 30 drug use was recorded through self reporting measures. Results show that by the age of 30, around one in three men and one in six women had used Cannibis, the use of other drugs was also recorded with overall drug use twice as common among men than women. Those with high IQ scores at the age of 5 were 50% more likely to have used illegal drugs than those with lower scores 25 years later. With women these results were even more suprising who were more than twice as likely to have used illegal drugs than those with low IQ scores.
The most intriuging question with this article is 'Why would those with a higher IQ be more inlcined to drug use?', many argue that those with a higher intelligence are open to new experiences which increase simulation and arousal levels. Other research shows that more intelligent children are easily bored and often have a more extroverted personality and so tend to seek excitement more using drugs.
