The association between polygenic scores for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and school performance: The role of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, polygenic scores for educational attainment, and shared familial factors.

Background

Polygenic scores (PGS) for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) negatively predicts educational attainment (EA), but it remains unclear how ADHD symptoms, PGS for EA, and shared familiar factors influence the associations between PGS for ADHD and school performance.

Method

We combined survey data on ADHD symptoms, PGS, and register-based, objective measures of compulsory school performance at age 16 for 6049 twins in the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden. Linear and instrumental variable (IV) regression models were used to estimate the association between PGS for ADHD and grade point average (GPA), overall and by natural science, humanities, and practically oriented (e.g., sports, arts, music) subject categories. The models were adjusted for parent-rated ADHD symptoms, PGS for EA, and shared familial factors (dizygotic twin comparisons) to examine how these factors influenced the associations between PGS for ADHD and school performance.

Results

PGS for ADHD were negatively associated with school performance;

Conclusion

Associations between PGS for ADHD and school performance are to a small degree influenced by ADHD symptoms, compared to PGS for EA and shared familial factors. These results highlight important considerations for research using PGS for ADHD to control for genetic factors, and for future clinical applications aiming to determine genetic liability towards ADHD.

Informations de copyright

© 2021 The Authors. JCPP Advances published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Andreas Jangmo has served as a speaker for Takeda. Cynthia M. Bulik reports: Shire/Takeda (grant recipient, Scientific Advisory Board member) and is on the Editorial Advisory Board for JCPP Advances; Pearson (author, royalty recipient); Henrik Larsson has served as a speaker for Evolan Pharma and Takeda/Shire, and has received research grants from Takeda/Shire, all outside the submitted work. He is Editor‐in‐Chief for JCPP Advances. [Corrections made on 22 June 2022, after first online publication: This Conflicts of Interest statement has been updated in this version.]