Jerrim, J;
Vignoles, A;
Lingam, R;
Friend, A;
(2013)
The socio-economic gradient in children's reading skills and the role of genetics.
(DoQSS Working Papers
13-30).
Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University College London: London, UK.
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Abstract
By the time children leave primary school there is a large socio-economic gap in their reading proficiency. There are a number of potential explanations for this socio-economic gap and in this paper we investigate the role of three particular genes and geneenvironment interactions in determining children’s reading skills, using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) dataset. We find that whilst these genes are indeed correlated with reading outcomes, effect sizes are small and sensitive to the choice of test used and the sample selected. Our results suggest that the leading candidate genes can jointly explain just 2% of the socio-economic gap in children’s reading test scores. We conclude that the influence of these three genes on children’s reading ability is limited, and their role in producing socio-economic gaps in reading ability is even more limited still.
| Type: | Working / discussion paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | The socio-economic gradient in children's reading skills and the role of genetics |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Reading, Genes, Gene-environment interaction, ALSPAC |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1473631 |
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