“High Intelligence Is Not Associated With a Greater Propensity for Mental Health Disorders”, Camille Michèle Williams, Hugo Peyre, Ghislaine Labouret, Judicael Fassaya, Adoración Guzmán García, Nicolas Gauvrit, Franck Ramus2022-11-18 (, , ; backlinks)⁠:

Background: Studies reporting that highly intelligent individuals have more mental health disorders often have sampling bias, no or inadequate control groups, or insufficient sample size. We addressed these caveats by examining the difference in the prevalence of mental health disorders between individuals with high and average general intelligence (g-factor) in the UK Biobank.

Method: Participants with g-factor scores standardized relative to the same-age UK population, were divided into two groups: a high g-factor group (g-factor 2 SD above the UK mean; n = 16,137) and an average g-factor group (g-factor within 2 SD of the UK mean; n = 236,273). Using self-report questionnaires and medical diagnoses, we examined group differences in the prevalence of 32 phenotypes, including mental health disorders, trauma, allergies, and other traits.

Results: High and average g-factor groups differed across 15⁄32 phenotypes and did not depend on sex and/or age. Individuals with high g-factors had less general anxiety (odds ratio [OR] = 0.69, 95% CI [0.64;0.74]) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; OR = 0.67, 95% CI [0.61;0.74]), were less neurotic (β = −0.12, 95% CI [−0.15;−0.10]), less socially isolated (OR = 0.85, 95% CI [0.80;0.90]), and were less likely to have experienced childhood stressors and abuse, adulthood stressors, or catastrophic trauma (OR = 0.69–0.90). However, they generally had more allergies (eg. eczema; OR = 1.13–1.33).

Conclusions: The present study provides robust evidence that highly intelligent individuals do not have more mental health disorders than the average population. High intelligence even appears as a protective factor for general anxiety and PTSD.

[Keywords: allergies, anxiety, intelligence, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychopathology]

Figure 1: Group differences in prevalence between high and average and low and average g-factor Groups across phenotypes and scores. OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. Correction for multiple comparisons varies by phenotype. See Supplementary tables standard error (SE) for p-value thresholds for multiple comparison corrections. High g-factor, participants with a g-factor score 2SD above the mean; low g-factor, participants with a g-factor score 2SD under the mean; average g-factor, participants with a g-factor score between ±2 SD from the mean.

…Our results contradict several studies that reported an increased risk for various psychiatric disorders in individuals with high intelligence (eg. Karpinski et al 2018, Smith et al 2015). These studies were generally based on small samples and suffered from major sampling bias or a lack of a control group (Gauvrit2014, Martin et al 2010).

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High Intelligence Is Not Associated With a Greater Propensity for Mental Health Disorders