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Thalia C. Eley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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No Evidence for Passive Gene-Environment Correlation or the Influence of Genetic Risk for Psychiatric Disorders on Adult Body Composition via the Adoption Design
Behavior Genetics, 2020Co-Authors: Avina K. Hunjan, Rosa Cheesman, Jonathan R. I. Coleman, Christopher Hübel, Thalia C. Eley, Gerome BreenAbstract:The relationship between genetic and environmental risk is complex and for many traits, estimates of genetic effects may be inflated by passive Gene-Environment Correlation. This arises because biological offspring inherit both their genotypes and rearing environment from their parents. We tested for passive Gene-Environment Correlation in adult body composition traits using the ‘natural experiment’ of childhood adoption, which removes passive Gene-Environment Correlation within families. Specifically, we compared 6165 adoptees with propensity score matched non-adoptees in the UK Biobank. We also tested whether passive Gene-Environment Correlation inflates the association between psychiatric genetic risk and body composition. We found no evidence for inflation of heritability or polygenic scores in non-adoptees compared to adoptees for a range of body composition traits. Furthermore, polygenic risk scores for anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia did not differ in their influence on body composition traits in adoptees and non-adoptees. These findings suggest that passive Gene-Environment Correlation does not inflate genetic effects for body composition, or the influence of psychiatric disorder genetic risk on body composition. Our design does not look at passive Gene-Environment Correlation in childhood, and does not test for ‘pure’ environmental effects or the effects of active and evocative Gene-Environment Correlations, where child genetics directly influences home environment. However, these findings suggest that genetic influences identified for body composition in this adult sample are direct, and not confounded by the family environment provided by biological relatives.
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Comparison of Adopted and Nonadopted Individuals Reveals Gene-Environment Interplay for Education in the UK Biobank.
Psychological science, 2020Co-Authors: Rosa Cheesman, Jonathan R. I. Coleman, Thalia C. Eley, Tom A. Mcadams, Robert Plomin, Avina Hunjan, Yasmin I. Ahmadzadeh, Gerome BreenAbstract:Polygenic scores now explain approximately 10% of the variation in educational attainment. However, they capture not only genetic propensity but also information about the family environment. This is because of passive Gene-Environment Correlation, whereby the Correlation between offspring and parent genotypes results in an association between offspring genotypes and the rearing environment. We measured passive Gene-Environment Correlation using information on 6,311 adoptees in the UK Biobank. Adoptees' genotypes were less correlated with their rearing environments because they did not share genes with their adoptive parents. We found that polygenic scores were twice as predictive of years of education in nonadopted individuals compared with adoptees (R2s = .074 vs. .037, p = 8.23 × 10-24). Individuals in the lowest decile of polygenic scores for education attained significantly more education if they were adopted, possibly because of educationally supportive adoptive environments. Overall, these results suggest that genetic influences on education are mediated via the home environment.
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Comparison of adopted and non-adopted individuals reveals Gene-Environment interplay for education in the UK Biobank
2019Co-Authors: Rosa Cheesman, Jonathan R. I. Coleman, Thalia C. Eley, Tom A. Mcadams, Robert Plomin, Avina Hunjan, Yasmin I. Ahmadzadeh, Gerome BreenAbstract:Abstract Individual-level polygenic scores can now explain ∼10% of the variation in number of years of completed education. However, associations between polygenic scores and education capture not only genetic propensity but information about the environment that individuals are exposed to. This is because individuals passively inherit effects of parental genotypes, since their parents typically also provide the rearing environment. In other words, the strong Correlation between offspring and parent genotypes results in an association between the offspring genotypes and the rearing environment. This is termed passive Gene-Environment Correlation. We present an approach to test for the extent of passive Gene-Environment Correlation for education without requiring intergenerational data. Specifically, we use information from 6311 individuals in the UK Biobank who were adopted in childhood to compare genetic influence on education between adoptees and non-adopted individuals. Adoptees’ rearing environments are less correlated with their genotypes, because they do not share genes with their adoptive parents. We find that polygenic scores are twice as predictive of years of education in non-adopted individuals compared to adoptees (R2= 0.074 vs 0.037, difference test p= 8.23 × 10−24). We provide another kind of evidence for the influence of parental behaviour on offspring education: individuals in the lowest decile of education polygenic score attain significantly more education if they are adopted, possibly due to educationally supportive adoptive environments. Overall, these results suggest that genetic influences on education are mediated via the home environment. As such, polygenic prediction of educational attainment represents Gene-Environment Correlations just as much as it represents direct genetic effects.
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widespread covariation of early environmental exposures and trait associated polygenic variation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017Co-Authors: Eva Krapohl, Gerome Breen, Laurie Hannigan, Jeanbaptiste Pingault, Hamel Patel, Neli Kadeva, Charles Curtis, Stephen Newhouse, Thalia C. EleyAbstract:Although gene–environment Correlation is recognized and investigated by family studies and recently by SNP-heritability studies, the possibility that genetic effects on traits capture environmental risk factors or protective factors has been neglected by polygenic prediction models. We investigated covariation between trait-associated polygenic variation identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and specific environmental exposures, controlling for overall genetic relatedness using a genomic relatedness matrix restricted maximum-likelihood model. In a UK-representative sample (n = 6,710), we find widespread covariation between offspring trait-associated polygenic variation and parental behavior and characteristics relevant to children’s developmental outcomes—independently of population stratification. For instance, offspring genetic risk for schizophrenia was associated with paternal age (R2 = 0.002; P = 1e-04), and offspring education-associated variation was associated with variance in breastfeeding (R2 = 0.021; P = 7e-30), maternal smoking during pregnancy (R2 = 0.008; P = 5e-13), parental smacking (R2 = 0.01; P = 4e-15), household income (R2 = 0.032; P = 1e-22), watching television (R2 = 0.034; P = 5e-47), and maternal education (R2 = 0.065; P = 3e-96). Education-associated polygenic variation also captured covariation between environmental exposures and children’s inattention/hyperactivity, conduct problems, and educational achievement. The finding that genetic variation identified by trait GWASs partially captures environmental risk factors or protective factors has direct implications for risk prediction models and the interpretation of GWAS findings.
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Accounting for genetic and environmental confounds in associations between parent and child characteristics: A systematic review of children-of-twins studies.
Psychological bulletin, 2014Co-Authors: Tom A. Mcadams, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, Jurgita Narusyte, Paul Lichtenstein, Fruhling Rijsdijk, Thalia C. EleyAbstract:Parental psychopathology, parenting style, and the quality of intrafamilial relationships are all associated with child mental health outcomes. However, most research can say little about the causal pathways underlying these associations. This is because most studies are not genetically informative and are therefore not able to account for the possibility that associations are confounded by Gene-Environment Correlation. That is, biological parents not only provide a rearing environment for their child, but also contribute 50% of their genes. Any associations between parental phenotype and child phenotype are therefore potentially confounded. One technique for disentangling genetic from environmental effects is the children-of-twins (COT) method. This involves using data sets comprising twin parents and their children to distinguish genetic from environmental associations between parent and child phenotypes. The COT technique has grown in popularity in the last decade, and we predict that this surge in popularity will continue. In the present article we explain the COT method for those unfamiliar with its use. We present the logic underlying this approach, discuss strengths and weaknesses, and highlight important methodological considerations for researchers interested in the COT method. We also cover variations on basic COT approaches, including the extended-COT method, capable of distinguishing forms of Gene-Environment Correlation. We then present a systematic review of all the behavioral COT studies published to date. These studies cover such diverse phenotypes as psychosis, substance abuse, internalizing, externalizing, parenting, and marital difficulties. In reviewing this literature, we highlight past applications, identify emergent patterns, and suggest avenues for future research.
H. Hill Goldsmith - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Childhood temperament: passive Gene-Environment Correlation, Gene-Environment interaction, and the hidden importance of the family environment
Development and Psychopathology, 2013Co-Authors: Kathryn Lemery-chalfant, Karen Kao, Gregory Swann, H. Hill GoldsmithAbstract:Biological parents pass on genotypes to their children, as well as provide home environments that correlate with their genotypes; thus, the association between the home environment and children's temperament can be genetically (i.e., passive Gene-Environment Correlation) or environmentally mediated. Furthermore, family environments may suppress or facilitate the heritability of children's temperament (i.e., Gene-Environment interaction). The sample comprised 807 twin pairs (mean age = 7.93 years) from the longitudinal Wisconsin Twin Project. Important passive Gene-Environment Correlations emerged, such that home environments were less chaotic for children with high effortful control, and this association was genetically mediated. Children with high extraversion/surgency experienced more chaotic home environments, and this Correlation was also genetically mediated. In addition, heritability of children's temperament was moderated by home environments, such that effortful control and extraversion/surgency were more heritable in chaotic homes, and negative affectivity was more heritable under crowded or unsafe home conditions. Modeling multiple types of Gene-Environment interplay uncovered the complex role of genetic factors and the hidden importance of the family environment for children's temperament and development more generally.
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Childhood temperament: Passive gene–environment Correlation, gene–environment interaction, and the hidden importance of the family environment
Development and Psychopathology, 2013Co-Authors: Kathryn Lemery-chalfant, Gregory Swann, H. Hill GoldsmithAbstract:Biological parents pass on genotypes to their children, as well as provide home environments that correlate with their genotypes; thus, the association between the home environment and children's temperament can be genetically (i.e. passive Gene-Environment Correlation) or environmentally mediated. Furthermore, family environments may suppress or facilitate the heritability of children's temperament (i.e. Gene-Environment interaction). The sample comprised 807 twin pairs (M age = 7.93 years) from the longitudinal Wisconsin Twin Project. Important passive geneenvironment Correlations emerged, such that home environments were less chaotic for children with high Effortful Control, and this association was genetically mediated. Children with high Extraversion/Surgency experienced more chaotic home environments, and this Correlation was also genetically mediated. In addition, heritability of children's temperament was moderated by home environments, such that Effortful Control and Extraversion/Surgency were more heritable in chaotic homes, and Negative Affectivity was more heritable under crowded or unsafe home conditions. Modeling multiple types of Gene-Environment interplay uncovered the complex role of genetic factors and the hidden importance of the family environment for children's temperament and development more generally. The interplay of genes and environment on children's development is complex and dynamic. Accurately depicting these relations, both conceptually and quantitatively, is essential to elucidating influences on individual differences in development generally, and differences in risk for psychopathology more specifically. The complexities of the interplay extend across multiple environmental levels from the cellular to the macroenvironment (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Wachs, 2010). Here, we simultaneously examine both linear and nonlinear contributions of the family environment to children's temperament in middle childhood. In doing so, we elucidate aspects of the environment that suppress or facilitate the development of temperament. With biometric modeling, we identify passive Gene-Environment Correlation (rGE), such that the relation between the home environment and children's temperament is genetically mediated. We also identify a type of gene by environment interaction (GxE); more specifically, we show that the family environment moderates the heritability of temperament.
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Childhood Temperament: Passive Gene-Environment Correlation, Gene-Environment Interaction, and the Hidden Importance of the Family Environment
Development and Psychopathology, 2013Co-Authors: Kathryn Lemery-chalfant, Karen Kao, Gregory Swann, H. Hill GoldsmithAbstract:Biological parents pass on genotypes to their children, as well as provide home environments that correlate with their genotypes; thus, the association between the home environment and children's temperament can be genetically (i.e. passive Gene-Environment Correlation) or environmentally mediated. Furthermore, family environments may suppress or facilitate the heritability of children's temperament (i.e. Gene-Environment interaction). The sample comprised 807 twin pairs (M age = 7.93 years) from the longitudinal Wisconsin Twin Project. Important passive geneenvironment Correlations emerged, such that home environments were less chaotic for children with high Effortful Control, and this association was genetically mediated. Children with high Extraversion/Surgency experienced more chaotic home environments, and this Correlation was also genetically mediated. In addition, heritability of children's temperament was moderated by home environments, such that Effortful Control and Extraversion/Surgency were more heritable in chaotic homes, and Negative Affectivity was more heritable under crowded or unsafe home conditions. Modeling multiple types of Gene-Environment interplay uncovered the complex role of genetic factors and the hidden importance of the family environment for children's temperament and development more generally. The interplay of genes and environment on children's development is complex and dynamic. Accurately depicting these relations, both conceptually and quantitatively, is essential to elucidating influences on individual differences in development generally, and differences in risk for psychopathology more specifically. The complexities of the interplay extend across multiple environmental levels from the cellular to the macroenvironment (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Wachs, 2010). Here, we simultaneously examine both linear and nonlinear contributions of the family environment to children's temperament in middle childhood. In doing so, we elucidate aspects of the environment that suppress or facilitate the development of temperament. With biometric modeling, we identify passive Gene-Environment Correlation (rGE), such that the relation between the home environment and children's temperament is genetically mediated. We also identify a type of gene by environment interaction (GxE); more specifically, we show that the family environment moderates the heritability of temperament.
Sara R. Jaffee - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Gene–environment Correlation in developmental psychopathology
Development and psychopathology, 2013Co-Authors: Ariel Knafo, Sara R. JaffeeAbstract:Modern research acknowledges that psychopathology and individual differences in normal development are the joint products of both biological and social influences. Although there have been numerous publications on Gene × Environment interactions in the past decade, gene–environment Correlation is another important form of gene–environment interplay that has received less attention. This Special Section demonstrates, using a range of methodological approaches, the importance of gene–environment Correlation in developmental psychopathology. Several types of gene–environment Correlation are described, including passive, evocative, and active. Other studies highlight the potential for gene–environment Correlation to obscure associations between risk exposures and child psychopathology. Future directions for gene–environment Correlation research are discussed.
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Effects of the Family Environment: Gene-Environment Interaction and Passive Gene-Environment Correlation.
Developmental Psychology, 2008Co-Authors: Thomas S Price, Sara R. JaffeeAbstract:The classical twin study provides a useful resource for testing hypotheses about how the family environment influences children's development, including how genes can influence sensitivity to environmental effects. However, existing statistical models do not account for the possibility that children can inherit exposure to family environments (i.e., passive Gene-Environment Correlation). The authors introduce a method to simultaneously estimate the effects of passive Gene-Environment Correlation and Gene-Environment interaction and use it to investigate the relationship between chaos in the home and verbal ability in a large sample of 4-year-old twins.
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Gene-Environment Correlations: a review of the evidence and implications for prevention of mental illness.
Molecular psychiatry, 2007Co-Authors: Sara R. Jaffee, Thomas S PriceAbstract:Family studies have demonstrated genetic influences on environmental exposure: the phenomenon of Gene-Environment Correlation (rGE). A few molecular genetic studies have confirmed the results, but the identification of rGE in studies that measure genes and environments faces several challenges. Using examples from studies in psychology and psychiatry, we integrate the behavioral and molecular genetic literatures on rGE, describe challenges in identifying rGE and discuss the implications of molecular genetic findings of rGE for future research on Gene-Environment interplay and for attempts to prevent disease by reducing environmental risk exposure. Genes affect environments indirectly, via behavior and personality characteristics. Associations between individual genetic variants and behaviors are typically small in magnitude, and downstream effects on environmental risk are further attenuated by behavioral mediation. Genotype-environment associations are most likely to be detected when the environment is behaviorally modifiable and highly specified and a plausible mechanism links gene and behavior. rGEs play an important causal role in psychiatric illness. Although research efforts should concentrate on elucidating the genetic underpinnings of behavior rather than the environment itself, the identification of rGE may suggest targets for environmental intervention even in highly heritable disease. Prevention efforts must address the possibility of confounding between rGE and Gene-Environment interaction (G x E).
Jenae M. Neiderhiser - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Birth and Adoptive Parent Antisocial Behavior and Parenting: A Study of Evocative Gene-Environment Correlation.
Child development, 2016Co-Authors: Ashlea M. Klahr, Jody M. Ganiban, David Reiss, Leslie D. Leve, Daniel S. Shaw, S. Alexandra Burt, Jenae M. NeiderhiserAbstract:Negative parenting is shaped by the genetically influenced characteristics of children (via evocative rGE) and by parental antisocial behavior; however, it is unclear how these factors jointly impact parenting. This study examined the effects of birth parent and adoptive parent antisocial behavior on negative parenting. Participants included 546 families within a prospective adoption study. Adoptive parent antisocial behavior emerged as a small but significant predictor of negative parenting at 18 months and of change in parenting from 18 to 27 months. Birth parent antisocial behavior predicted change in adoptive father's (but not mother's) parenting over time. These findings highlight the role of parent characteristics and suggest that evocative rGE effects on parenting may be small in magnitude in early childhood.
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Passive rGE or Developmental Gene-Environment Cascade? An Investigation of the Role of Xenobiotic Metabolism Genes in the Association Between Smoke Exposure During Pregnancy and Child Birth Weight
Behavior Genetics, 2016Co-Authors: Kristine Marceau, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, Rohan H. C. Palmer, Taylor F. Smith, John E. Mcgeary, Valerie S. KnopikAbstract:There is considerable evidence that smoke exposure during pregnancy (SDP) environmentally influences birth weight after controlling for genetic influences and maternal characteristics. However, maternal smoking during pregnancy—the behavior that leads to smoke exposure during pregnancy—is also genetically-influenced, indicating the potential role of passive Gene-Environment Correlation. An alternative to passive gene-SDP Correlation is a cascading effect whereby maternal and child genetic influences are causally linked to prenatal exposures, which then have an ‘environmental’ effect on the development of the child’s biology and behavior. We describe and demonstrate a conceptual framework for disentangling passive r GE from this cascading GE effect using a systems-based polygenic scoring approach comprised of genes shown to be important in the xenobiotic (substances foreign to the body) metabolism pathway. Data were drawn from 5044 families from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children with information on maternal SDP, birth weight, and genetic polymorphisms in the xenobiotic pathway. Within a k-fold cross-validation approach (k = 5), we created weighted maternal and child polygenic scores using 18 polymorphisms from 10 genes that have been implicated in the xenobiotic metabolism pathway. Mothers and children shared variation in xenobiotic metabolism genes. Amongst mothers who smoked during pregnancy, neither maternal nor child xenobiotic metabolism polygenic scores were associated with a higher likelihood of smoke exposure during pregnancy, or the severity of smoke exposure during pregnancy (and therefore, neither proposed mechanism was supported), or with child birth weight. SDP was consistently associated with lower child birth weight controlling for the polygenic scores, maternal educational attainment, social class, psychiatric problems, and age. Limitations of the study design and the potential of the framework using other designs are discussed.
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Adolescent Age Moderates Genetic and Environmental Influences on Parent-Adolescent Positivity and Negativity: Implications for Genotype-Environment Correlation
Development and psychopathology, 2015Co-Authors: Kristine Marceau, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, Jody M. Ganiban, Erica L. Spotts, Valerie S. Knopik, Paul Lichtenstein, David ReissAbstract:We examined how genotype-environment Correlation processes differ as a function of adolescent age. We tested whether adolescent age moderates genetic and environmental influences on positivity and negativity in mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationships using parallel samples of twin parents from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden and twin/sibling adolescents from the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development Study. We inferred differences in the role of passive and nonpassive genotype-environment Correlation based on biometric moderation findings. The findings indicated that nonpassive Gene-Environment Correlation played a stronger role for positivity in mother- and father-adolescent relationships in families with older adolescents than in families with younger adolescents, and that passive Gene-Environment Correlation played a stronger role for positivity in the mother-adolescent relationship in families with younger adolescents than in families with older adolescents. Implications of these findings for the timing and targeting of interventions on family relationships are discussed.
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Child-evoked maternal negativity from 9 to 27 months: Evidence of Gene-Environment Correlation and its moderation by marital distress.
Development and psychopathology, 2014Co-Authors: R. M. Pasco Fearon, Jody M. Ganiban, David Reiss, Leslie D. Leve, Daniel S. Shaw, Laura V. Scaramella, Jenae M. NeiderhiserAbstract:Past research has documented pervasive genetic influences on emotional and behavioral disturbance across the life span and on liability to adult psychiatric disorder. Increasingly, interest is turning to mechanisms of Gene-Environment interplay in attempting to understand the earliest manifestations of genetic risk. We report findings from a prospective adoption study, which aimed to test the role of evocative Gene-Environment Correlation in early development. Included in the study were 561 infants adopted at birth and studied between 9 and 27 months, along with their adoptive parents and birth mothers. Birth mother psychiatric diagnoses and symptoms scales were used as indicators of genetic influence, and multiple self-report measures were used to index adoptive mother parental negativity. We hypothesized that birth mother psychopathology would be associated with greater adoptive parent negativity and that such evocative effects would be amplified under conditions of high adoptive family adversity. The findings suggested that genetic factors associated with birth mother externalizing psychopathology may evoke negative reactions in adoptive mothers in the first year of life, but only when the adoptive family environment is characterized by marital problems. Maternal negativity mediated the effects of genetic risk on child adjustment at 27 months. The results underscore the importance of genetically influenced evocative processes in early development.
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Accounting for genetic and environmental confounds in associations between parent and child characteristics: A systematic review of children-of-twins studies.
Psychological bulletin, 2014Co-Authors: Tom A. Mcadams, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, Jurgita Narusyte, Paul Lichtenstein, Fruhling Rijsdijk, Thalia C. EleyAbstract:Parental psychopathology, parenting style, and the quality of intrafamilial relationships are all associated with child mental health outcomes. However, most research can say little about the causal pathways underlying these associations. This is because most studies are not genetically informative and are therefore not able to account for the possibility that associations are confounded by Gene-Environment Correlation. That is, biological parents not only provide a rearing environment for their child, but also contribute 50% of their genes. Any associations between parental phenotype and child phenotype are therefore potentially confounded. One technique for disentangling genetic from environmental effects is the children-of-twins (COT) method. This involves using data sets comprising twin parents and their children to distinguish genetic from environmental associations between parent and child phenotypes. The COT technique has grown in popularity in the last decade, and we predict that this surge in popularity will continue. In the present article we explain the COT method for those unfamiliar with its use. We present the logic underlying this approach, discuss strengths and weaknesses, and highlight important methodological considerations for researchers interested in the COT method. We also cover variations on basic COT approaches, including the extended-COT method, capable of distinguishing forms of Gene-Environment Correlation. We then present a systematic review of all the behavioral COT studies published to date. These studies cover such diverse phenotypes as psychosis, substance abuse, internalizing, externalizing, parenting, and marital difficulties. In reviewing this literature, we highlight past applications, identify emergent patterns, and suggest avenues for future research.
Gerome Breen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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No Evidence for Passive Gene-Environment Correlation or the Influence of Genetic Risk for Psychiatric Disorders on Adult Body Composition via the Adoption Design
Behavior Genetics, 2020Co-Authors: Avina K. Hunjan, Rosa Cheesman, Jonathan R. I. Coleman, Christopher Hübel, Thalia C. Eley, Gerome BreenAbstract:The relationship between genetic and environmental risk is complex and for many traits, estimates of genetic effects may be inflated by passive Gene-Environment Correlation. This arises because biological offspring inherit both their genotypes and rearing environment from their parents. We tested for passive Gene-Environment Correlation in adult body composition traits using the ‘natural experiment’ of childhood adoption, which removes passive Gene-Environment Correlation within families. Specifically, we compared 6165 adoptees with propensity score matched non-adoptees in the UK Biobank. We also tested whether passive Gene-Environment Correlation inflates the association between psychiatric genetic risk and body composition. We found no evidence for inflation of heritability or polygenic scores in non-adoptees compared to adoptees for a range of body composition traits. Furthermore, polygenic risk scores for anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia did not differ in their influence on body composition traits in adoptees and non-adoptees. These findings suggest that passive Gene-Environment Correlation does not inflate genetic effects for body composition, or the influence of psychiatric disorder genetic risk on body composition. Our design does not look at passive Gene-Environment Correlation in childhood, and does not test for ‘pure’ environmental effects or the effects of active and evocative Gene-Environment Correlations, where child genetics directly influences home environment. However, these findings suggest that genetic influences identified for body composition in this adult sample are direct, and not confounded by the family environment provided by biological relatives.
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Comparison of Adopted and Nonadopted Individuals Reveals Gene-Environment Interplay for Education in the UK Biobank.
Psychological science, 2020Co-Authors: Rosa Cheesman, Jonathan R. I. Coleman, Thalia C. Eley, Tom A. Mcadams, Robert Plomin, Avina Hunjan, Yasmin I. Ahmadzadeh, Gerome BreenAbstract:Polygenic scores now explain approximately 10% of the variation in educational attainment. However, they capture not only genetic propensity but also information about the family environment. This is because of passive Gene-Environment Correlation, whereby the Correlation between offspring and parent genotypes results in an association between offspring genotypes and the rearing environment. We measured passive Gene-Environment Correlation using information on 6,311 adoptees in the UK Biobank. Adoptees' genotypes were less correlated with their rearing environments because they did not share genes with their adoptive parents. We found that polygenic scores were twice as predictive of years of education in nonadopted individuals compared with adoptees (R2s = .074 vs. .037, p = 8.23 × 10-24). Individuals in the lowest decile of polygenic scores for education attained significantly more education if they were adopted, possibly because of educationally supportive adoptive environments. Overall, these results suggest that genetic influences on education are mediated via the home environment.
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Comparison of adopted and non-adopted individuals reveals Gene-Environment interplay for education in the UK Biobank
2019Co-Authors: Rosa Cheesman, Jonathan R. I. Coleman, Thalia C. Eley, Tom A. Mcadams, Robert Plomin, Avina Hunjan, Yasmin I. Ahmadzadeh, Gerome BreenAbstract:Abstract Individual-level polygenic scores can now explain ∼10% of the variation in number of years of completed education. However, associations between polygenic scores and education capture not only genetic propensity but information about the environment that individuals are exposed to. This is because individuals passively inherit effects of parental genotypes, since their parents typically also provide the rearing environment. In other words, the strong Correlation between offspring and parent genotypes results in an association between the offspring genotypes and the rearing environment. This is termed passive Gene-Environment Correlation. We present an approach to test for the extent of passive Gene-Environment Correlation for education without requiring intergenerational data. Specifically, we use information from 6311 individuals in the UK Biobank who were adopted in childhood to compare genetic influence on education between adoptees and non-adopted individuals. Adoptees’ rearing environments are less correlated with their genotypes, because they do not share genes with their adoptive parents. We find that polygenic scores are twice as predictive of years of education in non-adopted individuals compared to adoptees (R2= 0.074 vs 0.037, difference test p= 8.23 × 10−24). We provide another kind of evidence for the influence of parental behaviour on offspring education: individuals in the lowest decile of education polygenic score attain significantly more education if they are adopted, possibly due to educationally supportive adoptive environments. Overall, these results suggest that genetic influences on education are mediated via the home environment. As such, polygenic prediction of educational attainment represents Gene-Environment Correlations just as much as it represents direct genetic effects.
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widespread covariation of early environmental exposures and trait associated polygenic variation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017Co-Authors: Eva Krapohl, Gerome Breen, Laurie Hannigan, Jeanbaptiste Pingault, Hamel Patel, Neli Kadeva, Charles Curtis, Stephen Newhouse, Thalia C. EleyAbstract:Although gene–environment Correlation is recognized and investigated by family studies and recently by SNP-heritability studies, the possibility that genetic effects on traits capture environmental risk factors or protective factors has been neglected by polygenic prediction models. We investigated covariation between trait-associated polygenic variation identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and specific environmental exposures, controlling for overall genetic relatedness using a genomic relatedness matrix restricted maximum-likelihood model. In a UK-representative sample (n = 6,710), we find widespread covariation between offspring trait-associated polygenic variation and parental behavior and characteristics relevant to children’s developmental outcomes—independently of population stratification. For instance, offspring genetic risk for schizophrenia was associated with paternal age (R2 = 0.002; P = 1e-04), and offspring education-associated variation was associated with variance in breastfeeding (R2 = 0.021; P = 7e-30), maternal smoking during pregnancy (R2 = 0.008; P = 5e-13), parental smacking (R2 = 0.01; P = 4e-15), household income (R2 = 0.032; P = 1e-22), watching television (R2 = 0.034; P = 5e-47), and maternal education (R2 = 0.065; P = 3e-96). Education-associated polygenic variation also captured covariation between environmental exposures and children’s inattention/hyperactivity, conduct problems, and educational achievement. The finding that genetic variation identified by trait GWASs partially captures environmental risk factors or protective factors has direct implications for risk prediction models and the interpretation of GWAS findings.