Estimating effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores

P.A. Demange; J.J. Hottenga; A. Abdellaoui; E.M. Eilertsen; M. Malanchini; B.W. Domingue; E. Armstrong-Carter; E.L. de Zeeuw; K. Rimfeld; D.I. Boomsma; E. van Bergen; G. Breen; M.G. Nivard; R. Cheesman

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32003-x

Estimating effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores

P.A. Demange
, J.J. Hottenga
, A. Abdellaoui
, E.M. Eilertsen
, M. Malanchini
, B.W. Domingue
, E. Armstrong-Carter
, E.L. de Zeeuw
, K. Rimfeld
, D.I. Boomsma
, E. van Bergen
, G. Breen
, M.G. Nivard
, R. Cheesman

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Article number	4801
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Number of pages	14
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	13
Early online date	23 Aug 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32003-x
Publication status	Published - 2022

Funding

We thank Dr. Aysu Okbay, the SSGAC and COGENT consortiums for sharing their summary statistics for GWAS of educational attainment and cognitive performance excluding specific cohorts. P.A.D. is supported by the grant 531003014 from The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW). R.C. and E.M.E. are supported by the Research Council of Norway (288083). A.A. is supported by the Foundation Volksbond Rotterdam and by ZonMw grant 849200011 from The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development. K.R. is supported the Wellcome Trust (213514/Z/18/Z). D.I.B. is supported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science (KNAW) Professor Award (PAH/6635). E.v.B. is supported by ZonMW grant 531003014 and VENI grant 451-15-017. M.G.N. is supported by R01MH120219, ZonMW grants 849200011 and 531003014 from The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development, a VENI grant awarded by NWO (VI.Veni.191\u2009G.030) and is a Jacobs Foundation Research Fellow. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application Number 40310. The Netherlands Twin Register is supported by NWO Groot (480-15-001/674): Netherlands Twin Register Repository: researching the interplay between genome and environment and the Avera Institute for Human Genetics, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA) for genotyping. We gratefully acknowledge the research program \u2018Consortium on Individual Development (CID)\u2019 which is funded through the Gravitation program of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO: 0240-001-003). We gratefully acknowledge \u2018Open Data Infrastructure for Social Science and Economic Innovations (ODISSEI) (NWO: NRGWI.obrug.2018.008)\u2019. We gratefully acknowledge the ongoing contribution of the participants in the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) and their families. TEDS is supported by a program grant from the UK Medical Research Council (MR/V012878/1 and previously MR/M021475/1), with additional support from the US National Institutes of Health (AG046938). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

Funders	Funder number
Avera Institute for Human Genetics
ZonMw
Royal Netherlands Academy of Science
Open Data Infrastructure for Social Science and Economic Innovations
Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap
UK Research and Innovation
SSGAC	531003014
National Institutes of Health	AG046938
Wellcome Trust	213514, 213514/Z/18/Z
???publication-publication-funding-organisation-not-added???	0240-001-003, VI.Veni.191 G.030, 451-15-017
Jacobs Foundation	40310, 480-15-001/674
National Institute of Mental Health	R01MH120219
Norges Forskningsråd	288083
ODISSEI	NRGWI.obrug.2018.008
Foundation Volksbond Rotterdam	849200011
Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen	PAH/6635, R01MH120219
Medical Research Council	MR/V012878/1, MR/M021475/1

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 4 Quality Education

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https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32003-x

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Cite this

Demange, P. A., Hottenga, J. J., Abdellaoui, A., Eilertsen, E. M., Malanchini, M., Domingue, B. W., Armstrong-Carter, E., de Zeeuw, E. L., Rimfeld, K., Boomsma, D. I., van Bergen, E., Breen, G., Nivard, M. G., & Cheesman, R. (2022). Estimating effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores. Nature Communications, 13, 1-14. Article 4801. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32003-x

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abstract = "Understanding how parents{\textquoteright} 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{\textquoteright} skills, facilitating future mechanistic work.",

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Demange, PA, Hottenga, JJ, Abdellaoui, A, Eilertsen, EM, Malanchini, M, Domingue, BW, Armstrong-Carter, E, de Zeeuw, EL, Rimfeld, K, Boomsma, DI , van Bergen, E, Breen, G, Nivard, MG & Cheesman, R 2022, 'Estimating effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores', Nature Communications, vol. 13, 4801, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32003-x

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AU - Demange, P.A.

AU - Hottenga, J.J.

AU - Abdellaoui, A.

AU - Eilertsen, E.M.

AU - Malanchini, M.

AU - Domingue, B.W.

AU - Armstrong-Carter, E.

AU - de Zeeuw, E.L.

AU - Rimfeld, K.

AU - Boomsma, D.I.

AU - van Bergen, E.

AU - Breen, G.

AU - Nivard, M.G.

AU - Cheesman, R.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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JO - Nature Communications

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ER -

Estimating effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

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