| Title: | Estimating effects of parents' cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores |
| Journal: | Nature Communications |
| Published: | 23 Aug 2022 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35999215/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32003-x |
| URL: | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32003-x.pdf |
Publication 10452
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Abstract
Understanding how parents' cognitive and non-cognitive skills influence offspring education is essential for educational, family and economic policy. We use genetics (GWAS-by-subtraction) to assess a latent, broad non-cognitive skills dimension. To index parental effects controlling for genetic transmission, we estimate indirect parental genetic effects of polygenic scores on childhood and adulthood educational outcomes, using siblings (N = 47,459), adoptees (N = 6407), and parent-offspring trios (N = 2534) in three UK and Dutch cohorts. We find that parental cognitive and non-cognitive skills affect offspring education through their environment: on average across cohorts and designs, indirect genetic effects explain 36-40% of population polygenic score associations. However, indirect genetic effects are lower for achievement in the Dutch cohort, and for the adoption design. We identify potential causes of higher sibling- and trio-based estimates: prenatal indirect genetic effects, population stratification, and assortative mating. Our phenotype-agnostic, genetically sensitive approach has established overall environmental effects of parents' skills, facilitating future mechanistic work.</p>
14 Authors
- Perline A. Demange
- Jouke Jan Hottenga
- Abdel Abdellaoui
- Espen Moen Eilertsen
- Margherita Malanchini
- Benjamin W. Domingue
- Emma Armstrong-Carter
- Eveline L. de Zeeuw
- Kaili Rimfeld
- Dorret I. Boomsma
- Elsje van Bergen
- Gerome Breen
- Michel G. Nivard
- Rosa Cheesman
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 40310 | The Evolutionary History and the Genetic Architecture of Complex Traits |
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