Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development

Margherita Malanchini; Andrea G. Allegrini; Michel G. Nivard; Pietro Biroli; Kaili Rimfeld; Rosa Cheesman; Sophie von Stumm; Perline A. Demange; Elsje van Bergen; Andrew D. Grotzinger; Laurel Raffington; Javier De la Fuente; Jean Baptiste Pingault; Elliot M. Tucker-Drob; K. Paige Harden; Robert Plomin

doi:10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9

Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development

Margherita Malanchini^*, Andrea G. Allegrini^*, Michel G. Nivard, Pietro Biroli, Kaili Rimfeld, Rosa Cheesman, Sophie von Stumm, Perline A. Demange, Elsje van Bergen, Andrew D. Grotzinger, Laurel Raffington, Javier De la Fuente, Jean Baptiste Pingault, Elliot M. Tucker-Drob, K. Paige Harden, Robert Plomin

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

Abstract

Non-cognitive skills, such as motivation and self-regulation, are partly heritable and predict academic achievement beyond cognitive skills. However, how the relationship between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement changes over development is unclear. The current study examined how cognitive and non-cognitive skills are associated with academic achievement from ages 7 to 16 years in a sample of over 10,000 children from England and Wales. The results showed that the association between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement increased across development. Twin and polygenic scores analyses found that the links between non-cognitive genetics and academic achievement became stronger over the school years. The results from within-family analyses indicated that non-cognitive genetic effects on academic achievement could not simply be attributed to confounding by environmental differences between nuclear families, consistent with a possible role for evocative/active gene–environment correlations. By studying genetic associations through a developmental lens, we provide further insights into the role of non-cognitive skills in academic development.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2034-2046
Number of pages	13
Journal	Nature Human Behaviour
Volume	8
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9
Publication status	Published - Oct 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Funding

Funders	Funder number
European Research Council Executive Agency
TEDS
European Research Council
UK Research and Innovation
National Institutes of Health	R01MH120219, AG046938, RF1AG073593
National Institutes of Health
Medical Research Council	G0901245, MR/M021475/1
Medical Research Council
European Commission	101045526
European Commission
Horizon Europe funding guarantee	575067
Queen Mary University of London	G19/2
Queen Mary University of London
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme	863981
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

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Malanchini, M., Allegrini, A. G., Nivard, M. G., Biroli, P., Rimfeld, K., Cheesman, R., von Stumm, S., Demange, P. A., van Bergen, E., Grotzinger, A. D., Raffington, L., De la Fuente, J., Pingault, J. B., Tucker-Drob, E. M., Harden, K. P., & Plomin, R. (2024). Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development. Nature Human Behaviour, 8(10), 2034-2046. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9

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title = "Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development",

abstract = "Non-cognitive skills, such as motivation and self-regulation, are partly heritable and predict academic achievement beyond cognitive skills. However, how the relationship between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement changes over development is unclear. The current study examined how cognitive and non-cognitive skills are associated with academic achievement from ages 7 to 16 years in a sample of over 10,000 children from England and Wales. The results showed that the association between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement increased across development. Twin and polygenic scores analyses found that the links between non-cognitive genetics and academic achievement became stronger over the school years. The results from within-family analyses indicated that non-cognitive genetic effects on academic achievement could not simply be attributed to confounding by environmental differences between nuclear families, consistent with a possible role for evocative/active gene–environment correlations. By studying genetic associations through a developmental lens, we provide further insights into the role of non-cognitive skills in academic development.",

author = "Margherita Malanchini and Allegrini, {Andrea G.} and Nivard, {Michel G.} and Pietro Biroli and Kaili Rimfeld and Rosa Cheesman and {von Stumm}, Sophie and Demange, {Perline A.} and {van Bergen}, Elsje and Grotzinger, {Andrew D.} and Laurel Raffington and {De la Fuente}, Javier and Pingault, {Jean Baptiste} and Tucker-Drob, {Elliot M.} and Harden, {K. Paige} and Robert Plomin",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024.",

year = "2024",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9",

language = "English",

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Malanchini, M, Allegrini, AG, Nivard, MG, Biroli, P, Rimfeld, K, Cheesman, R, von Stumm, S, Demange, PA, van Bergen, E, Grotzinger, AD, Raffington, L, De la Fuente, J, Pingault, JB, Tucker-Drob, EM, Harden, KP & Plomin, R 2024, 'Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development', Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 8, no. 10, pp. 2034-2046. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9

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AU - Allegrini, Andrea G.

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AU - Biroli, Pietro

AU - Rimfeld, Kaili

AU - Cheesman, Rosa

AU - von Stumm, Sophie

AU - Demange, Perline A.

AU - van Bergen, Elsje

AU - Grotzinger, Andrew D.

AU - Raffington, Laurel

AU - De la Fuente, Javier

AU - Pingault, Jean Baptiste

AU - Tucker-Drob, Elliot M.

AU - Harden, K. Paige

AU - Plomin, Robert

PY - 2024/10

Y1 - 2024/10

N2 - Non-cognitive skills, such as motivation and self-regulation, are partly heritable and predict academic achievement beyond cognitive skills. However, how the relationship between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement changes over development is unclear. The current study examined how cognitive and non-cognitive skills are associated with academic achievement from ages 7 to 16 years in a sample of over 10,000 children from England and Wales. The results showed that the association between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement increased across development. Twin and polygenic scores analyses found that the links between non-cognitive genetics and academic achievement became stronger over the school years. The results from within-family analyses indicated that non-cognitive genetic effects on academic achievement could not simply be attributed to confounding by environmental differences between nuclear families, consistent with a possible role for evocative/active gene–environment correlations. By studying genetic associations through a developmental lens, we provide further insights into the role of non-cognitive skills in academic development.

AB - Non-cognitive skills, such as motivation and self-regulation, are partly heritable and predict academic achievement beyond cognitive skills. However, how the relationship between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement changes over development is unclear. The current study examined how cognitive and non-cognitive skills are associated with academic achievement from ages 7 to 16 years in a sample of over 10,000 children from England and Wales. The results showed that the association between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement increased across development. Twin and polygenic scores analyses found that the links between non-cognitive genetics and academic achievement became stronger over the school years. The results from within-family analyses indicated that non-cognitive genetic effects on academic achievement could not simply be attributed to confounding by environmental differences between nuclear families, consistent with a possible role for evocative/active gene–environment correlations. By studying genetic associations through a developmental lens, we provide further insights into the role of non-cognitive skills in academic development.

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Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development

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