Genetic and environmental variation in educational attainment:an individual-based analysis of 28 twin cohorts

We investigated the heritability of educational attainment and how it differed between birth cohorts and cultural–geographic regions. A classical twin design was applied to pooled data from 28 cohorts representing 16 countries and including 193,518 twins with information on educational attainment at 25 years of age or older. Genetic factors explained the major part of individual differences in educational attainment (heritability: a 2 = 0.43; 0.41–0.44), but also environmental variation shared by co-twins was substantial (c 2 = 0.31; 0.30–0.33). The proportions of educational variation explain... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Silventoinen, Karri
Jelenkovic, Aline
Sund, Reijo
Latvala, Antti
Honda, Chika
Inui, Fujio
Tomizawa, Rie
Watanabe, Mikio
Sakai, Norio
Rebato, Esther
Busjahn, Andreas
Tyler, Jessica
Hopper, John L.
Ordoñana, Juan R.
Sánchez-Romera, Juan F.
Colodro-Conde, Lucia
Calais-Ferreira, Lucas
Oliveira, Vinicius C.
Ferreira, Paulo H.
Medda, Emanuela
Nisticò, Lorenza
Toccaceli, Virgilia
Derom, Catherine A.
Vlietinck, Robert F.
Loos, Ruth J.F.
Siribaddana, Sisira H.
Hotopf, Matthew
Sumathipala, Athula
Rijsdijk, Fruhling
Duncan, Glen E.
Buchwald, Dedra
Tynelius, Per
Rasmussen, Finn
Tan, Qihua
Zhang, Dongfeng
Pang, Zengchang
Magnusson, Patrik K.E.
Pedersen, Nancy L.
Dahl Aslan, Anna K.
Hwang, Amie E.
Mack, Thomas M.
Krueger, Robert F.
McGue, Matt
Pahlen, Shandell
Brandt, Ingunn
Nilsen, Thomas S.
Harris, Jennifer R.
Martin, Nicholas G.
Medland, Sarah E.
Montgomery, Grant W.
Willemsen, Gonneke
Bartels, Meike
van Beijsterveldt, Catharina E.M.
Franz, Carol E.
Kremen, William S.
Lyons, Michael J.
Silberg, Judy L.
Maes, Hermine H.
Kandler, Christian
Nelson, Tracy L.
Whitfield, Keith E.
Corley, Robin P.
Huibregtse, Brooke M.
Gatz, Margaret
Butler, David A.
Tarnoki, Adam D.
Tarnoki, David L.
Park, Hang A.
Lee, Jooyeon
Lee, Soo Ji
Sung, Joohon
Yokoyama, Yoshie
Sørensen, Thorkild I.A.
Boomsma, Dorret I.
Kaprio, Jaakko
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
Reihe/Periodikum: Silventoinen , K , Jelenkovic , A , Sund , R , Latvala , A , Honda , C , Inui , F , Tomizawa , R , Watanabe , M , Sakai , N , Rebato , E , Busjahn , A , Tyler , J , Hopper , J L , Ordoñana , J R , Sánchez-Romera , J F , Colodro-Conde , L , Calais-Ferreira , L , Oliveira , V C , Ferreira , P H , Medda , E , Nisticò , L , Toccaceli , V , Derom , C A , Vlietinck , R F , Loos , R J F , Siribaddana , S H , Hotopf , M , Sumathipala , A , Rijsdijk , F , Duncan , G E , Buchwald , D , Tynelius , P , Rasmussen , F , Tan , Q , Zhang , D , Pang , Z , Magnusson , P K E , Pedersen , N L , Dahl Aslan , A K , Hwang , A E , Mack , T M , Krueger , R F , McGue , M , Pahlen , S , Brandt , I , Nilsen , T S , Harris , J R , Martin , N G , Medland , S E , Montgomery , G W , Willemsen , G , Bartels , M , van Beijsterveldt , C E M , Franz , C E , Kremen , W S , Lyons , M J , Silberg , J L , Maes , H H , Kandler , C , Nelson , T L , Whitfield , K E , Corley , R P , Huibregtse , B M , Gatz , M , Butler , D A , Tarnoki , A D , Tarnoki , D L , Park , H A , Lee , J , Lee , S J , Sung , J , Yokoyama , Y , Sørensen , T I A , Boomsma , D I & Kaprio , J 2020 , ' Genetic and environmental variation in educational attainment : an individual-based analysis of 28 twin cohorts ' , Scientific Reports , vol. 10 , no. 1 , 12681 , pp. 1-11 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69526-6 , https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69526-6
Schlagwörter: /dk/atira/pure/keywords/cohort_studies/netherlands_twin_register_ntr_ / name=Netherlands Twin Register (NTR)
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28799831
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/ebaf7f77-8a1b-4130-99a7-6e016ea31372

We investigated the heritability of educational attainment and how it differed between birth cohorts and cultural–geographic regions. A classical twin design was applied to pooled data from 28 cohorts representing 16 countries and including 193,518 twins with information on educational attainment at 25 years of age or older. Genetic factors explained the major part of individual differences in educational attainment (heritability: a 2 = 0.43; 0.41–0.44), but also environmental variation shared by co-twins was substantial (c 2 = 0.31; 0.30–0.33). The proportions of educational variation explained by genetic and shared environmental factors did not differ between Europe, North America and Australia, and East Asia. When restricted to twins 30 years or older to confirm finalized education, the heritability was higher in the older cohorts born in 1900–1949 (a 2 = 0.44; 0.41–0.46) than in the later cohorts born in 1950–1989 (a 2 = 0.38; 0.36–0.40), with a corresponding lower influence of common environmental factors (c 2 = 0.31; 0.29–0.33 and c 2 = 0.34; 0.32–0.36, respectively). In conclusion, both genetic and environmental factors shared by co-twins have an important influence on individual differences in educational attainment. The effect of genetic factors on educational attainment has decreased from the cohorts born before to those born after the 1950s.