Literacy, phonological awareness, oral language and PWM abilities share a large proportion of underlying genetic variation in unrelated youth¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? A single shared genetic factor captures the majority (>90%) of the genetic variance of reading fluency, spelling and phonemic awareness, and roughly half for listening comprehension and non-word repetition. → Chin Yang Shapland 2021

Evidence¶

Chin Yang Shapland 2021¶

Chin Yang Shapland, Ellen Verhoef, George Davey Smith, Simon E. Fisher, Brad Verhulst, Philip S. Dale and Beate St Pourcain. (2021). Multivariate genome-wide covariance analyses of literacy, language and working memory skills reveal distinct etiologies. npj Science of Learning 6:23. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00101-y

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Multi-domain GSEM analysis (passage reading subset, N = 6453) of ALSPAC unrelated youth; the best-fitting IPC model identified a shared genetic factor, with factorial co-heritabilities >44%. The article reports that "the majority of genetic variance across all traits (>90%) is captured by a shared genetic factor."

"Thus, the majority of genetic variance across all traits (>90%) is captured by a shared genetic factor."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Genetic and residual covariance patterns diverge between oral language and literacy/phonological awareness — related
• Non-word repetition (PWM) shows trait-specific genetic variance beyond the shared genetic factor — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Genetic influences drive the phenotypic correlations between cognitive skills and reading components — a broader claim this one bears on
• Skill-specific genetic variance in working memory and processing speed predicts reading components — related
• Reading fluency, spelling, phonemic awareness, listening comprehension and non-word repetition are moderately heritable (SNP-h2 30–50%) in unrelated youth — related
• Genetic factors underlying spelling accuracy at age 7 capture nearly all genetic variation in spelling accuracy at age 9 — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Word reading speed carries a trait-specific genetic factor not present for passage reading accuracy — related
• A common genetic factor captures shared genetic influences across four reading-related traits and ADHD, with ADHD loading negatively and reading traits positively — related
• Nonword reading was excluded from the Genomic SEM model because its genetic correlations with word reading and spelling exceeded 1.0 — related
• Genetic stability of educational achievement persists after controlling for general cognitive ability (g), with genetic factors explaining about 60% of stability — related