Elsje van Bergen

Jul 17, 2024 | nature.com | Amanda Hughes |Fartein Ask Torvik |Elsje van Bergen |Elizabeth C Corfield |Ole A. Andreassen |Eivind Ystrom | +3 more

AbstractChildren born to parents with fewer years of education are more likely to have depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but it is unclear to what extent these associations are causal. We estimated the effect of parents’ educational attainment on children’s depressive, anxiety, and ADHD traits at age 8 years, in a sample of 40,879 Norwegian children born in 1998–2009 and their parents.

May 1, 2024 | nature.com | Perline A. Demange |Elsje van Bergen

AbstractWe investigate the causal relationship between educational attainment (EA) and mental health conditions using two research designs. Here we first compare the relationship between EA and 18 psychiatric diagnoses within-sibship in Dutch national registry data (N = 1.7 million), thereby controlling for unmeasured familial factors.

Jan 14, 2024 | nature.com | Michel G. Nivard |K. Paige Harden |Ole A. Andreassen |Eivind Ystrøm |Elsje van Bergen

AbstractFamilies transmit genes and environments across generations. When parents’ genetics affect their children’s environments, these two modes of inheritance can produce an ‘indirect genetic effect’. Such indirect genetic effects may account for up to half of the estimated genetic variance in educational attainment.

Dec 3, 2023 | nature.com | Elsje van Bergen |Dorret I. Boomsma

AbstractThe non-cognitive skills self-control and grit are often considered predictors of school performance, but whether this relationship is causal remains unclear. We investigated the causality of this association using a twin design. Specifically, we evaluated the direct impact of self-control and grit on school performance, while controlling for genetic or environmental influences common to all three traits (i.e., confounding).