ArticlePloS one2020
Early life predictors of intelligence in young adulthood and middle age.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Head circumference and intelligence, schooling, employment, and income: a systematic review.BMC pediatrics · 2024Pooled it
- Anthropometric differences between twins at birth and their association with later cognitive performance.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Maternal dietary patterns, breastfeeding duration, and their association with child cognitive function and head circumference growth: A prospective mother-child cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2025Article
- Multisession transcranial direct current stimulation and memory-associated cognitive functions in healthy young adults.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Pesticide exposure, birth size, and gestational age in the ISA birth cohort, Costa Rica.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2024Article
- Assessing harmonized intelligence measures in a multinational study.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Birth size, school performance and family social position: a study of 650,000 children.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- Big data, machine learning, and population health: predicting cognitive outcomes in childhood.Pediatric research · 2023Review
- Socioeconomic and cognitive roots of trait anxiety in young adults.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2022Article
- A prospective investigation into the association between the gut microbiome composition and cognitive performance among healthy young adults.Gut pathogens · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStudies on early predictors of intelligence often focus on single or few predictors and often on childhood intelligence. This study compared the contributions of a broad selection of potential early predictors of intelligence at different adult ages.
methodsInformation on predictors was recorded prospectively in the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort during pregnancy, at delivery, and at 1- and 3-year examinations for children born between 1959-61. Adult intelligence was assessed at three independent follow-ups using three different tests of intelligence: Børge Priens Prøve, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and Intelligenz-Struktur-Test 2000R. From a total of 4697 cohort members, three non-overlapping samples were derived.
resultsThe included predictors explained between 22.2-24.3% of the variance in adult IQ, with parental socioeconomic status and sex explaining 16.2-17.0%. Other consistent predictors were head circumference at birth, increase in head circumference head during the first three years, and 3-year milestones. Head circumference was the most important anthropometric measure compared to measures of weight and length.
conclusionBesides social status and sex, the strongest and most consistent early predictors of adult intelligence were physical or behavioural characteristics that to some extent reflect brain-and cognitive development.
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