Alcohol consumption and cognitive functioning in social drinkers.

Abstract

A drinking history questionnaire and cognitive test battery that included the Shipley-Institute of Living Scale, the Halstead Category Test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and a multitrial free-recall learning test were administered to 102 men volunteers from a California [USA] suburb. Their mean age was 43; all had high-school or college education. Most were in high-level occupations, and their socioeconomic functioning was good. Mean lifetime consumption of absolute alcohol was 294 l, the average current frequency of drinking was 204 occasions/yr, and mean current quantity of absolute alcohol consumed/drinking occasion was 42 ml. The quantity-frequency-variability (Q-F-V) index classified 36% of the sample as heavy drinkers, 55% as light and moderate drinkers and 9% as infrequent drinkers and abstainers. Lifetime consumption or current frequency of drinking was not significantly related to sober cognitive performance, but current quantity/drinking occasion was. Every significant correlation was in the direction of decreased performance with increased drinking per occasion. Processes of abstraction, adaptive abilities and concept formation were apparently associated with amount of alcohol consumed per occasion. Indices of memory, learning and organizational processes were not significantly correlatd with any drinking variables in the sample as a whole; they were significantly correlated with current quantity in heavy drinkers. Nonalcoholics drinking practices apparently were associated with decrements in intellectual functioning in the sober state.