Polygenic scores associated with educational attainment in adults predict educational achievement and ADHD symptoms in children

Eveline L. de Zeeuw, Catharina E.M. van Beijsterveldt, Tina J. Glasner, M. Bartels, Erik A. Ehli, Gareth E Davies, James J. Hudziak, Cornelius A. Rietveld, Maria M. Groen-Blokhuis, Jouke Jan Hottenga, Eco J.C. de Geus, Dorret I. Boomsma, Social Science Genetic Association Consortium, Sutapa Mukherjee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The American Psychiatric Association estimates that 3 to 7 per cent of all school aged children are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Even after correcting for general cognitive ability, numerous studies report a negative association between ADHD and educational achievement. With polygenic scores we examined whether genetic variants that have a positive influence on educational attainment have a protective effect against ADHD. The effect sizes from a large GWA meta-analysis of educational attainment in adults were used to calculate polygenic scores in an independent sample of 12-year-old children from the Netherlands Twin Register. Linear mixed models showed that the polygenic scores significantly predicted educational achievement, school performance, ADHD symptoms and attention problems in children. These results confirm the genetic overlap between ADHD and educational achievement, indicating that one way to gain insight into genetic variants responsible for variation in ADHD is to include data on educational achievement, which are available at a larger scale.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)510-520
Number of pages11
JournalAmerican Journal of Medical Genetics, Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics
Volume165
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • ADHD
  • Educational achievement
  • Genetics
  • Polygenic scores
  • School performance

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Polygenic scores associated with educational attainment in adults predict educational achievement and ADHD symptoms in children'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this