Consistency of non-cognitive skills and their relation to educational outcomes in a UK cohort

Morris, Tim; Smith, George Davey; Berg, Gerard van den; Davies, Neil M

doi:10.1101/470682

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…While these two studies applied GWA discoveries in the field of educational attainment to the investigation of noncognitive skills, one recent study has looked into the heritability and covariation between multiple noncognitive skills using DNA-based methods. Estimating univariate heritability and pairwise genetic correlations in large samples of unrelated individuals using GCTA (Yang et al, 2011), the investigation found that across multiple measures of noncognitive skills (including personality, self-regulation, and motivation), estimates of heritability and genetic correlations between measures were weak (Morris, Smith, Berg, & Davies, 2018). In addition, all noncognitive measures shared weak genetic associations with educational or professional success.…”

Section: The Genetics Of Education Extends Beyond Academic Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive ability and education: How behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association

Malanchini

Rimfeld

Allegrini

et al. 2020

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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Cognitive ability and educational success predict positive outcomes across the lifespan, from higher earnings to better health and longevity. The shared positive outcomes associated with cognitive ability and education are emblematic of the strong interconnections between them. Part of the observed associations between cognitive ability and education, as well as their links with wealth, morbidity and mortality, are rooted in genetic variation.The current review evaluates the contribution of decades of behavioural genetic research to our knowledge and understanding of the biological and environmental basis of the association between cognitive ability and education. The evidence reviewed points to a strong genetic basis in their association, observed from middle childhood to old age, which is amplified by environmental experiences. In addition, the strong stability and heritability of educational success are not driven entirely by cognitive ability. This highlights the contribution of other educationally relevant noncognitive characteristics. Considering both cognitive and noncognitive skills as well as their biological and environmental underpinnings will be fundamental in moving towards a comprehensive, evidence-based model of education.

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Section: The Genetics Of Education Extends Beyond Academic Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive ability and education: How behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association

Malanchini

Rimfeld

Allegrini

et al. 2020

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…First, regarding assessment, whereas cognitive skills can be directly measured by tests of domain-specific or general cognitive performance, non-cognitive skills are more challenging with measures often inconsistent, incomplete or unreliable 7,8 . There is little agreement on what non-cognitive skills to measure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Demange

Hottenga

Abdellaoui

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Understanding how parents shape their children’s educational trajectories is a socially important research goal. Evidence on the effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education is weakened by poor assessments of non-cognitive skills and inadequate accounting for genetic inheritance. In this preregistered study, we use genetics to assess non-cognitive skills and to index environmental effects of parents, controlling for direct effects of inherited genetic variation. We define the non-cognitive and cognitive heritable contributions to educational attainment using GWAS-by-subtraction, and construct non-cognitive and cognitive skills polygenic scores in three UK and Dutch cohorts. We estimate environmentally mediated effects of polygenic scores (parental indirect genetic effects) on educational achievement and attainment with three designs that include siblings (N=47,459), adoptees (N=6,407), and parent-offspring trios (N=2,534). Heritable non-cognitive and cognitive skills are both involved in parental construction of environments influencing offspring education: indirect genetic effects explain ∼37% of total polygenic score effects. This result holds across countries, outcomes, ages and methods, with two exceptions: indirect genetic effects are null for childhood achievement in the Dutch cohort, and lower when estimated with the adoption method. Overall, our findings stress the importance of both non-cognitive and cognitive aspects of the home environment.

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“…Genetic analysis could help clarify the contribution of these skills to educational attainment and elucidate their connections with other traits. But, a challenge to genetic research is a lack of consistent and reliable measurements of non-cognitive skills in existing genetic datasets 19 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the genetic architecture of noncognitive skills using GWAS-by-subtraction

et al. 2021

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Little is known about the genetic architecture of traits affecting educational attainment other than cognitive ability. We used Genomic Structural Equation Modeling and prior genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of educational attainment ( n = 1,131,881) and cognitive test performance ( n = 257,841) to estimate SNP associations with educational attainment variation that is independent of cognitive ability.We identified 157 genome-wide significant loci and a polygenic architecture accounting for 57% of genetic variance in educational attainment. Non-cognitive genetics were enriched in the same brain tissues and cell types as cognitive performance but showed different associations with gray-matter brain volumes. Non-cognitive genetics were further distinguished by associations with personality traits, less risky behavior,and increased risk for certain psychiatric disorders.For socioeconomic success and longevity, non-cognitive and cognitive-performance genetics demonstrated similar-magnitude associations. By conducting a GWAS of a phenotype that was not directly measured, we offer a first view of genetic architecture of non-cognitive skills influencing educational success.

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Consistency of non-cognitive skills and their relation to educational outcomes in a UK cohort

Cited by 7 publications

References 42 publications

Cognitive ability and education: How behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association

Cognitive ability and education: How behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association

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

Investigating the genetic architecture of noncognitive skills using GWAS-by-subtraction

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