Genetic liability for ADHD predicts lower GCSE attainment but not greater school absence (ALSPAC cohort)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Each SD increase in the ADHD polygenic score corresponded to a decrease of 2.70 GCSE points, while the ADHD PGS was not associated with greater school absence (−0.24% per SD). → Hughes 2021
Evidence¶
Hughes 2021¶
Hughes, A., Wade, K. H., Dickson, M., Rice, F., Davies, A., Davies, N. M. & Howe, L. D. (2021). Common health conditions in childhood and adolescence, school absence, and educational attainment: Mendelian randomization study. npj Science of Learning 6:1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-020-00080-6
q3 · i? · causal · r2
Genetic association analysis in ALSPAC adjusting for gender and 20 ancestry principal components (Table 4). The article reports the ADHD PGS predicted lower GCSE points but "not more absence" (−0.24%, CI −2.13, 1.69), and the PGS explained <1% of phenotype variance.
"Each SD increase in the PGS for ADHD corresponded to a decrease of 2.70 (95% CI: −4.83, −0.58) GCSE points."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- In multivariate-adjusted phenotypic models, all measured child/adolescent health conditions except migraine and asthma are associated with poorer GCSE attainment at 16 (ALSPAC cohort) — related
- All measured health conditions are associated with greater school absence at 14–16, and depressive symptoms at 10 show a considerably stronger association with GCSEs than at 13 (ALSPAC cohort) — related
- Academic attainment (GCSE results) at age 16 mediates the association between childhood ADHD symptoms and late-adolescent depressive symptoms — related
- School absence mediates health–attainment associations, least for ADHD (7.1%) and most for migraine (72.0%) and BMI (39.9%) (ALSPAC cohort) — related
- Children's own polygenic index for educational attainment is negatively associated with their ADHD traits at age 8, independent of parental PGIs — related
- Genetic instrumental-variable analysis supports a causal negative effect of higher BMI in childhood and adolescence on GCSE attainment and school absence (ALSPAC cohort) — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
adhd-genetic-liability-attainment-not-absence |
title |
Genetic liability for ADHD predicts lower GCSE attainment but not greater school absence (ALSPAC cohort) |
description |
Genetic liability for ADHD predicts lower GCSE attainment but not greater school absence (ALSPAC cohort) |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2021 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-26 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — hughes-2021 |
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