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Gene-by-Socioeconomic Status Interaction on School Readiness

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Abstract

In previous work with a nationally representative sample of over 1,400 monozygotic and dizygotic twins born in the US, Tucker-Drob et al. (Psychological Science, 22, 125–133, 2011) uncovered a gene × environment interaction on scores on the Bayley Short Form test of mental ability (MA) at 2 years of age—higher socioeconomic status (SES) was associated not only with higher MA, but also with larger genetic contributions to individual differences in MA. The current study examined gene × SES interactions in mathematics skill and reading skill at 4 years of age (preschool age) in the same sample of twins, and further examined whether interactions detected at 4 years could be attributed to the persistence of the interaction previously observed at 2 years. For early mathematics skill but not early reading skill, genetic influences were more pronounced at higher levels of SES. This interaction was not accounted for by the interaction observed at 2 years. These findings indicate that SES moderates the etiological influences on certain cognitive functions at multiple stages of child development.

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Notes

  1. Sample sizes are rounded to the nearest 50 in accordance with ECLS-B data security regulations.

  2. \( heritability = \frac{{(a + a^{\prime} \cdot SES)^{2} }}{{(a + a^{\prime} \cdot SES)^{2} + (c + c^{\prime} \cdot SES)^{2} + (e + e^{\prime} \cdot SES)^{2}. }} \)

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Acknowledgments

Preparation of this article was supported by National Institutes of Health grant R21 HD069772 to E. M. Tucker-Drob and a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship to M. Rhemtulla. EMTD is a faculty research associate at the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, which is supported by National Institutes of Health center grant R24 HD042849. The analyses presented here use data from the ECLS-B data file, which was provided by the US Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis, University of Kansas, 1425 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Mijke Rhemtulla

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Texas, 1 University Station A8000, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Elliot M. Tucker-Drob

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  1. Mijke Rhemtulla
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  2. Elliot M. Tucker-Drob
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Correspondence to Mijke Rhemtulla.

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Edited by Danielle Dick.

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Rhemtulla, M., Tucker-Drob, E.M. Gene-by-Socioeconomic Status Interaction on School Readiness. Behav Genet 42, 549–558 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-012-9527-0

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