Does moderate drinking cause mental impairment?

Non‐linear relationships between cognitive function and alcohol consumption in young, middle‐aged and older adults: the PATH Through Life Project

“…The digits backwards subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale [31], used to assess working memory, involved participants being read a series of digits before recalling the digits in reverse order. The Symbol-Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) [32], a measure of psychomotor speed that has also been shown to have a memory component, required participants to substitute digits (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9) corresponding to symbols, with these pairs available throughout the task on a code sheet. Substitutions were made as rapidly as possible for 90 seconds.…”

“…Early reviews [2,3] emphasized that evidence was inconclusive, and indicated the need for future research before informed recommendations could be made regarding safe levels of drinking. Nevertheless, Parsons [3] drew attention to studies suggesting an inverse relationship between amount of alcohol consumed per occasion and cognitive functioning in sober social drinkers.…”

The effect of alcohol consumption on recency discrimination ability: an early screening test for alcohol‐induced cognitive impairment

“…The mean and standard deviation of the variables included in the regression analyses are presented in Table 1. It has been suggested by Robertson (1984) that in much of the alcohol literature on memory impairment, important variables which could influence memory but which are unrelated to alcohol consumption are not controlled. He cites particularly age and IQ in this regard, and so it is theoretically important to take account of these variables.…”

Can Light or Moderate Drinking Benefit Mental Health?

“…Early reports of an association in cross-sectional observational studies between moderate drinking and lower levels of cognitive skills compared to abstaining or light drinking did not satisfy reviewers that there was a causal relationship [13,14]. Subsequent cross-sectional observational studies tended to find no association or only weak association between cognitive impairment and increasing levels of alcohol consumption [15,16].…”