Past studies have found that poor cognitive abilities during adolescence and early adulthood predict an increase in the risk of alcohol related injury and death among drinkers several years later. Other studies, however, have found connections between better cognitive and verbal abilities during childhood, early alcohol experimentation and increased levels of drinking in young adulthood.

A new study supports the links between verbal development in childhood and frequent drinking and intoxication during adolescence and young adulthood.

“Previous studies have suggested that the relationship between cognitive abilities and alcohol use behaviors is complex,” said Antti Latvala, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki and corresponding author for the study. “Whether differences in cognitive abilities play a role in drinking initiation or frequency – in contrast to severe problems – is not so clear. Some studies haven’t found any association. However, in recent years this issue has been investigated in several large-scale cohort studies in the U.K. and the U.S., and these studies have found that those who scored better in a standard cognitive ability test in childhood or adolescence were less likely to abstain from alcohol and more likely to drink frequently in adulthood.”

Latvala and his colleagues used the data from two ongoing population based longitudinal studies of Finnish twins. FinnTwin12 includes twin participants born between the years 1983 and 1987 and FinnTwin16 includes twins born between the years 1975 and 1979. The researchers focused their attention on sets of twins that were known to be dissimilar in language development skills during childhood.

Through the use of questionnaires, the researchers collected data on the twin sets from the first group at ages 11 and 12, again at 14 and 17.5, and as young adults at 20 and 24 years of age. For the twins included in the other study group, the researchers collected data at ages 16, 17 and 18.5, then as young adults at ages 23 and 25. The parents of the twin sets were also questioned about the age at which each twin spoke their first words, learned to read and developed various other skills. The twins themselves reported similarities and differences in their drinking habits, intoxication and alcohol related issues during adolescence and young adulthood.

Surprisingly, twins with more verbally advanced skills during childhood were often the ones to report more frequent drinking and becoming intoxicated during adolescence. Researchers also discovered that the more advanced twins were more likely to surround themselves with friends that drank and were more “sensation seeking”.

“We found that differences in language development in early childhood and school age predict alcohol use behaviors in adolescence and up to young adulthood,” Latvala said.

Results of this study will appear in the February 2014 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.