This work builds on our previous study, currently under review: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

A special thank you to our wonderful co-authors! Engin Keser, @andrealle.bsky.social, @kailirimfeld.bsky.social, Robert Plomin

Research and interventions focused solely on transdiagnostic risk are unlikely to capture the full complexity of these relationships or to enhance our understanding of the distinct cognitive profiles associated with different psychiatric conditions.

Contrary to what has been observed for the development of psychiatric symptoms, which are best predicted by transdiagnostic effects, the association between psychopathology and general cognitive ability is driven by disorder-specific genetic factors rather than transdiagnostic influences.

4️⃣ Within-sibling analyses indicated that genetic associations operated through distinct pathways: for some disorders (e.g., ADHD), effects were largely shared between siblings, while for others (e.g., ASD), they were specific to each individual within a family.

2️⃣ While for some psychiatric disorders (e.g., ADHD, Tourette’s) associations with cognitive skills were negative, for others (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, anorexia nervosa) they were positive.

3️⃣ Associations increased across development and varied for different cognitive skills.

The results showed that:
1️⃣ The relationship between psychopathology and cognitive functioning is primarily driven by disorder-specific genetic effects, rather than by transdiagnostic factors.

4. We used Genomic SEM and calculated polygenic scores to test whether genetic risk for different psychiatric disorders, before and after we removed transdiagnostic effects, was associated with specific cognitive profiles over development, from early childhood to early adulthood.

3. One way of overcoming these challenges is to consider genetic risk. Genetic studies provide a powerful tool for uncovering and isolating shared (transdiagnostic) and unique processes to each disorder.

2. Because cognitive profiles often transcend diagnostic boundaries, it has been challenging to delineate specific relationships between psychiatric disorders and cognitive functioning.

A further challenge is the heterogeneity in the age of onset and diagnosis of different psychiatric conditions.

1. Despite a well-established relationship between cognition and mental health, cognitive functioning remains an under-investigated dimension of psychopathology.

9/9. In line with transactional models of human development, rooted in evocative/active gene-environment correlation, children seek out environmental experiences that align with their genetic dispositions, partly based on their non-cognitive characteristics, leading to different learning outcomes.🧬🌳

8/9. Children’s unique genetic dispositions were associated with academic achievement partly through their distinct non-cognitive profiles beyond those genetic, environmental and demographic factors that are common to family members.

7/9. Mediation effects could also be observed when examining differences between siblings. Examining differences between siblings we were able to separate the effects of family-wide processes from those unique to each child within a family.

6/9. 🔷 Time-lagged analyses showed that the mediating role of non-cognitive skills persisted across development, underscoring the importance of fostering non-cognitive skills to enhance students’ long-term academic outcomes.

5/9/ 🔷 non-cognitive skills, particularly those characteristics closely linked to learning (e.g., academic interest, curiosity, and academic self-perceived ability), play a critical role in translating education-associated genetic dispositions into observed academic achievement.

4/9. Leveraging longitudinal data from >5,000 twins enrolled in the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) we found that non-cognitive skills play a key role in translating genetic propensity into differences between students in academic achievement. Specifically, we found that:

3/9. This study examines the role of non-cognitive skills—e.g., motivation, attitudes, and self-regulation—in mediating education-associated genetic effects on academic achievement across development.