Dataset Information

Differences in polygenic associations with educational attainment between West and East Germany before and after reunification.

ABSTRACT: Here we examine geographical and historical differences in polygenic associations with educational attainment in East and West Germany around reunification. We test this in n = 1902 25-85-year-olds from the German SOEP-G[ene] cohort. We leverage a DNA-based measure of genetic influence, a polygenic index calculated based on a previous genome-wide association study of educational attainment in individuals living in democratic countries. We find that polygenic associations with educational attainment were significantly stronger among East, but not West, Germans after but not before reunification. Negative control analyses of a polygenic index of height with educational attainment and height indicate that this gene-by-environemt interaction is specific to the educational domain. These findings suggest that the shift from an East German state-socialist to a free-market West German system increased the importance of genetic variants previously identified as important for education.

SUBMITTER: Fraemke D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10996480 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Differences in polygenic associations with educational attainment between West and East Germany before and after reunification.

Fraemke D D Willems Y E YE Okbay A A Wagner G G Tucker-Drob E M EM Harden K P KP Hertwig R R Koellinger P P Raffington L L

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 20240326

Here we examine geographical and historical differences in polygenic associations with educational attainment in East and West Germany around reunification. We test this in n = 1902 25-85-year-olds from the German SOEP-G[ene] cohort. We leverage a DNA-based measure of genetic influence, a polygenic index calculated based on a previous genome-wide association study of educational attainment in individuals living in democratic countries. We find that polygenic associations with educational attainm ...[more]

PMID: 38585898

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Project description:Interpreting polygenic overlap between ADHD and both literacy-related and language-related impairments is challenging as genetic associations might be influenced by indirectly shared genetic factors. Here, we investigate genetic overlap between polygenic ADHD risk and multiple literacy-related and/or language-related abilities (LRAs), as assessed in UK children (N ≤ 5919), accounting for genetically predictable educational attainment (EA). Genome-wide summary statistics on clinical ADHD and years of schooling were obtained from large consortia (N ≤ 326,041). Our findings show that ADHD-polygenic scores (ADHD-PGS) were inversely associated with LRAs in ALSPAC, most consistently with reading-related abilities, and explained ≤1.6% phenotypic variation. These polygenic links were then dissected into both ADHD effects shared with and independent of EA, using multivariable regressions (MVR). Conditional on EA, polygenic ADHD risk remained associated with multiple reading and/or spelling abilities, phonemic awareness and verbal intelligence, but not listening comprehension and non-word repetition. Using conservative ADHD-instruments (P-threshold < 5 × 10-8), this corresponded, for example, to a 0.35 SD decrease in pooled reading performance per log-odds in ADHD-liability (P = 9.2 × 10-5). Using subthreshold ADHD-instruments (P-threshold < 0.0015), these effects became smaller, with a 0.03 SD decrease per log-odds in ADHD risk (P = 1.4 × 10-6), although the predictive accuracy increased. However, polygenic ADHD-effects shared with EA were of equal strength and at least equal magnitude compared to those independent of EA, for all LRAs studied, and detectable using subthreshold instruments. Thus, ADHD-related polygenic links with LRAs are to a large extent due to shared genetic effects with EA, although there is evidence for an ADHD-specific association profile, independent of EA, that primarily involves literacy-related impairments.

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Dataset Information

Differences in polygenic associations with educational attainment between West and East Germany before and after reunification.

Publications

Differences in polygenic associations with educational attainment between West and East Germany before and after reunification.

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