Better psychological functioning and higher social status may largely explain the apparent health benefits of wine - A study of wine and beer drinking in young Danish adults

Background: Findings from a recent series of Danish studies suggest that mo derate wine drinkers are healthier than those who drink other alcoholic bev erages or those who abstain. Objective: To identify possible explanatory factors associated with the hea lth benefits of wine consumption through the examination of a wide spectrum of social, cognitive, and personality characteristics related to both beve rage choice and health in young Danish adults. Subjects and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study of characteristics associated with beverage choice in a sample of 363 men and 330 women betwee n the ages of 29 and 34 years, selected from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohor t on the basis of perinatal records. Main Outcome Measures: Socioeconomic status, education, IQ, personality, ps ychiatric symptoms, and health-related behaviors, including alcohol consump tion, were analyzed. The outcome variables were subjected to linear and log istic regression analyses with 2 factors (beer and wine), each with 2 level s (drinking or not drinking a certain beverage type). Results: Wine drinking was significantly associated with higher IQ, higher parental educational level, and higher socioeconomic status. Beer drinking was significantly associated with lower scores on the same variables. On sc ales concerning personality, psychiatric symptoms, and health-related behav iors, wine drinking was associated with optimal functioning and beer drinki ng with suboptimal functioning. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that wine drinking is a general indicator of optimal social, cognitive, and personality development in Denmark. Simi lar social, cognitive, and personality factors have also been associated wi th better health in many populations. Consequently, the association between drinking habits and social and psychological characteristics, in large par t, may explain the apparent health benefits of wine.