Social Class Differences in Intellectual Characteristics of Alcoholics

Abstract

Admn. of the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale to 50 non-psychotic white native-born male alcoholic patients of middle class social status background and to 50 non-psychotic white native-born male alcoholic patients of lower class background indicated that the mean full-scale IQ of the middle class group was superior and that of the lower class group was high avg. in level. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups as to degree of dispersion around the means. Both groups showed equally divided abilities on verbal and performance scales, suggesting that both groups were capable of handling abstract ideas and concrete objects with equal facility. There was no special organization of mental abilities differentiating 1 social status group from the other or distinguishing the alcoholic from the non-alcoholic population. Intellectual differences between the 2 groups appeared to be quantitative rather than qualitative. Mean subtest scores of the middle-class group were consistently superior to those of the lower class group. When the 2 social status groups were combined, results indicated that the general intellectual ability of alcoholics as a mixed social class group is above avg.