TY - JOUR
T1 - Family income and polygenic scores are independently but not interactively associated with cognitive performance among youth genetically similar to European reference populations
AU - Paul, S. E.
AU - Elsayed, N. M.
AU - Colbert, S. M.C.
AU - Bogdan, R.
AU - Hatoum, A. S.
AU - Barch, D. M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2024.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Cognitive abilities are heritable and influenced by socioeconomic status (SES). It is critical to understand the association between SES and cognition beyond genetic propensity to inform potential benefits of SES-based interventions and to determine if such associations vary across (i) cognitive domains, (ii) facets of SES, and/or (iii) genetic propensity for different aspects of cognition. We examined the contributions of neighborhood socioeconomic advantage, family income, and polygenic scores (PGS) for domains of cognition (i.e., general cognitive ability, executive function, learning and memory, fluid reasoning) in a sample of children (ages 9-10; n = 5549) most genetically similar to reference populations from Europe. With some variability across cognitive outcomes, family income and PGS were independently significantly associated with cognitive performance. Within-sibling analyses revealed that cognitive PGS associations were predominantly driven by between-family effects suggestive of non-direct genetic mechanisms. These findings provide evidence that SES and genetic propensity to cognition have unique associations with cognitive performance in middle childhood. These results underscore the importance of environmental factors and genetic influences in the development of cognitive abilities and caution against overinterpreting associations with PGS of cognitive and educational outcomes as predominantly direct genetic effects.
AB - Cognitive abilities are heritable and influenced by socioeconomic status (SES). It is critical to understand the association between SES and cognition beyond genetic propensity to inform potential benefits of SES-based interventions and to determine if such associations vary across (i) cognitive domains, (ii) facets of SES, and/or (iii) genetic propensity for different aspects of cognition. We examined the contributions of neighborhood socioeconomic advantage, family income, and polygenic scores (PGS) for domains of cognition (i.e., general cognitive ability, executive function, learning and memory, fluid reasoning) in a sample of children (ages 9-10; n = 5549) most genetically similar to reference populations from Europe. With some variability across cognitive outcomes, family income and PGS were independently significantly associated with cognitive performance. Within-sibling analyses revealed that cognitive PGS associations were predominantly driven by between-family effects suggestive of non-direct genetic mechanisms. These findings provide evidence that SES and genetic propensity to cognition have unique associations with cognitive performance in middle childhood. These results underscore the importance of environmental factors and genetic influences in the development of cognitive abilities and caution against overinterpreting associations with PGS of cognitive and educational outcomes as predominantly direct genetic effects.
KW - cognitive ability
KW - familial income
KW - gene-environment interaction
KW - neighborhood advantage
KW - polygenic risk scores
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85209711806&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0954579424001573
DO - 10.1017/S0954579424001573
M3 - Article
C2 - 39498480
AN - SCOPUS:85209711806
SN - 0954-5794
JO - Development and Psychopathology
JF - Development and Psychopathology
ER -