OBJECTIVE: Socioeconomic factors have been suggested to influence the effect of education- and intelligence-associated genetic variants. However, results from previous studies on the interaction between socioeconomic status and education or intelligence have been inconsistent. The authors sought to assess these interactions in the UK Biobank cohort of 500,000 participants. METHODS: The authors assessed the effect of socioeconomic deprivation on education- and intelligence-associated genetic variants by estimating the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) heritability for fluid intelligence, educational attainment, and years of education in subsets of UK Biobank participants with different degrees of social deprivation, using linkage disequilibrium score regression. They also generated polygenic scores with LDpred and tested for interactions with social deprivation. RESULTS: SNP heritability increased with socioeconomic deprivation for fluid intelligence, educational attainment, and years of education. Polygenic scores were also found to interact with socioeconomic deprivation, where the effects of the scores increased with increasing deprivation for all traits. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that genetics have a larger influence on educational and cognitive outcomes in more socioeconomically deprived U.K. citizens, which has serious implications for equality of opportunity.
OBJECTIVE: Socioeconomic factors have been suggested to influence the effect of education- and intelligence-associated genetic variants. However, results from previous studies on the interaction between socioeconomic status and education or intelligence have been inconsistent. The authors sought to assess these interactions in the UK Biobank cohort of 500,000 participants. METHODS: The authors assessed the effect of socioeconomic deprivation on education- and intelligence-associated genetic variants by estimating the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) heritability for fluid intelligence, educational attainment, and years of education in subsets of UK Biobank participants with different degrees of social deprivation, using linkage disequilibrium score regression. They also generated polygenic scores with LDpred and tested for interactions with social deprivation. RESULTS: SNP heritability increased with socioeconomic deprivation for fluid intelligence, educational attainment, and years of education. Polygenic scores were also found to interact with socioeconomic deprivation, where the effects of the scores increased with increasing deprivation for all traits. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that genetics have a larger influence on educational and cognitive outcomes in more socioeconomically deprived U.K. citizens, which has serious implications for equality of opportunity.
Authors: Martin A Isungset; Dalton Conley; Henrik D Zachrisson; Eivind Ystrom; Alexandra Havdahl; Pål R Njølstad; Torkild Hovde Lyngstad Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2022-06-16 Impact factor: 12.779
Authors: Doretta Caramaschi; Alexander Neumann; Andres Cardenas; Gwen Tindula; Silvia Alemany; Lea Zillich; Giancarlo Pesce; Jari M T Lahti; Alexandra Havdahl; Rosa Mulder; Janine F Felix; Henning Tiemeier; Lea Sirignano; Josef Frank; Stephanie H Witt; Marcella Rietschel; Michael Deuschle; Karen Huen; Brenda Eskenazi; Tabea Sarah Send; Muriel Ferrer; Maria Gilles; Maria de Agostini; Nour Baïz; Sheryl L Rifas-Shiman; Tuomas Kvist; Darina Czamara; Samuli T Tuominen; Caroline L Relton; Dheeraj Rai; Stephanie J London; Katri Räikkönen; Nina Holland; Isabella Annesi-Maesano; Fabian Streit; Marie-France Hivert; Emily Oken; Jordi Sunyer; Charlotte A M Cecil; Gemma Sharp Journal: Mol Psychiatry Date: 2022-02-10 Impact factor: 13.437