Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development
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.
Authors
- Elsje van Bergen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5860-5745)
- Andrea G. Allegrini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4048-4292)
- Kaili Rimfeld (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5139-065X)
- Robert J. Plomin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0756-3629)
- Michel Guillaume Nivard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2015-1888)
- Andrew David Grotzinger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7852-9244)
- Jean‐Baptiste Pingault (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2557-4716)
- Laurel Raffington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0144-5605)
- Margherita Malanchini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7257-6119)
- K. Paige Harden (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1557-6737)
- Pietro Biroli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5033-4688)
- Sophie von Stumm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0447-5471)
- Elliot M. Tucker–Drob (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5599-6237)
- Perline Demange (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7061-8354)
- Rosa Cheesman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6543-0402)
- Javier de la Fuente (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8352-7104)
Institutions
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- Royal Holloway University of London (GB)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development (DE)
- The London College (GB)
- Public Health Service of Amsterdam (NL)
- University College London (GB)
- University of York (GB)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- University of Bologna (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Human Behaviour
- Published
- 2024-08-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9
- Citations
- 18
- Primary Topic
- Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.14
Funders
- Queen Mary University of London
- Government of the United Kingdom
- UK Research and Innovation
- European Commission
- National Institutes of Health
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- Medical Research Council