Scholarlink

<p>The role of environmental, developmental, and psychological processes in translating genetic dispositions into observed academic achievement remains under-investigated. Here, we examine whether non-cognitive skills—including motivation, attitudes, and emotional and behavioural functioning—mediate the genetic prediction of academic achievement across development. We analyse data from 5,016 children enrolled in the Twins Early Development Study at ages 7, 9, 12, and 16, as well as their parents and teachers. We find that non-cognitive skills mediate between less than 5 and up to 64% of the genetic prediction of academic achievement. Mediation effects are larger and more robust for motivation and attitudes (β ≈ 0.13) than for emotional and behavioural functioning (β ≈ 0.01–0.03). This pattern holds longitudinally and is replicated in within-family analyses, where non-cognitive skills account for up to 83% of the total mediation effects. These findings highlight the contribution of non-cognitive skills beyond shared familial factors, likely reflecting how children evoke and select experiences that align with their genetic propensity and lead to differences in academic development.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Non-cognitive skills mediate education-related polygenic score associations with academic achievement across development

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月8日

查看全文
  • Quan Zhou,
  • Wangjingyi Liao,
  • Andrea G. Allegrini,
  • Kaili Rimfeld,
  • Jasmin Wertz,
  • Tim T. Morris,
  • Laurel Raffington,
  • Robert Plomin,
  • Margherita Malanchini

摘要

The role of environmental, developmental, and psychological processes in translating genetic dispositions into observed academic achievement remains under-investigated. Here, we examine whether non-cognitive skills—including motivation, attitudes, and emotional and behavioural functioning—mediate the genetic prediction of academic achievement across development. We analyse data from 5,016 children enrolled in the Twins Early Development Study at ages 7, 9, 12, and 16, as well as their parents and teachers. We find that non-cognitive skills mediate between less than 5 and up to 64% of the genetic prediction of academic achievement. Mediation effects are larger and more robust for motivation and attitudes (β ≈ 0.13) than for emotional and behavioural functioning (β ≈ 0.01–0.03). This pattern holds longitudinally and is replicated in within-family analyses, where non-cognitive skills account for up to 83% of the total mediation effects. These findings highlight the contribution of non-cognitive skills beyond shared familial factors, likely reflecting how children evoke and select experiences that align with their genetic propensity and lead to differences in academic development.