The Earliest Origins of Genetic Nurture: The Prenatal Environment Mediates the Association Between Maternal Genetics and Child Development.

ABSTRACT: Observed genetic associations with educational attainment may be due to direct or indirect genetic influences. Recent work highlights genetic nurture, the potential effect of parents' genetics on their child's educational outcomes via rearing environments. To date, few mediating childhood environments have been tested. We used a large sample of genotyped mother-child dyads (N = 2,077) to investigate whether genetic nurture occurs via the prenatal environment. We found that mothers with more education-related genes are generally healthier and more financially stable during pregnancy. Further, measured prenatal conditions explain up to one third of the associations between maternal genetics and children's academic and developmental outcomes at the ages of 4 to 7 years. By provi

SUBMITTER: Armstrong-Carter E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7370247 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature