Epidemiological studies have shown higher childhood IQ to be associated with less alcohol‐induced hangovers in adulthood (Batty, Deary & Macintyre 2006). However, higher childhood mental ability has also been associated with increased alcohol intake and alcohol‐related problems in adulthood (Batty et al. 2008). The relationship between alcohol dependence and cognitive ability is confounded by environmental exposures that obscure observational associations and causality. Social deprivation and the number of years spent in education correlate strongly with cognitive ability. Alcohol consumption is positively correlated with socio‐economic status and education level (Huerta & Borgonovi 2010; Corley et al. 2011; Grittner et al. 2012); however, problem drinking is more prevalent in regions of social deprivation (Bromley et al. 2012). These factors interact as the effect of socio‐economic status negatively impacts cognitive function in individuals with a positive family history of alcoholism (Lovallo et al. 2013). Furthermore, social deprivation and education have a substantial genetic component that has been shown to overlap with the genetic basis of cognitive ability in this sample (Marioni et al. 2014).
