TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive ability and health-related behaviors during adolescence
T2 - A prospective study across five years
AU - Ciarrochi, Joseph
AU - Heaven, Patrick
AU - Skinner, Timothy
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Longitudinal research on the links between intelligence and health behaviors among adolescents is rare. We report longitudinal data in which we assessed the relationships between intelligence as assessed in Grade 7 and consequential health outcomes in Grade 11. The mean age of respondents (N = 420; 188 males, 232 females) was 12.30 years (SD = 0.49) in Grade 7and 16.17 years (SD = 0.45) in Grade 11. They completed standardized verbal and numerical ability tests and a measure of conscientiousness in Grade 7 and health related questions in Grade 11. Results indicated that higher intelligence was associated with a number of healthy behaviors including delay in onset of cigarette smoking. Intelligence significantly predicted less time spent watching TV, lower physical exercise, and lower consumption of stimulant drinks. Covariate analyses showed that general intelligence predicted health outcomes after controlling for conscientiousness, socio-economic status, and gender.
AB - Longitudinal research on the links between intelligence and health behaviors among adolescents is rare. We report longitudinal data in which we assessed the relationships between intelligence as assessed in Grade 7 and consequential health outcomes in Grade 11. The mean age of respondents (N = 420; 188 males, 232 females) was 12.30 years (SD = 0.49) in Grade 7and 16.17 years (SD = 0.45) in Grade 11. They completed standardized verbal and numerical ability tests and a measure of conscientiousness in Grade 7 and health related questions in Grade 11. Results indicated that higher intelligence was associated with a number of healthy behaviors including delay in onset of cigarette smoking. Intelligence significantly predicted less time spent watching TV, lower physical exercise, and lower consumption of stimulant drinks. Covariate analyses showed that general intelligence predicted health outcomes after controlling for conscientiousness, socio-economic status, and gender.
U2 - 10.1016/j.intell.2012.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.intell.2012.03.003
M3 - Article
VL - 40
SP - 317
EP - 324
JO - Intelligence
JF - Intelligence
SN - 0160-2896
IS - 4
ER -