Student-teacher relationships as a mediator of children’s education-linked genetics: results from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study
AI Summary
Higher education polygenic scores associated with less teacher-reported conflict and more positive teacher responses, but not with teacher-reported closeness.
Student-teacher conflict and positive teacher responses partially mediated polygenic score effects on reading and maths; teacher-reported closeness did not mediate.
Structural equation models in 63,032 Norwegian cohort children tested student-teacher relationship at age 5 and mother-rated reading and maths at ages 6 to 8.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2026 May 28. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.70179. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Genetic differences are robustly associated with educational outcomes, but how they become linked is poorly understood. A plausible hypothesis, yet to be thoroughly empirically tested, is that the school environment mediates the association.
METHODS: Using structural equation models, we tested whether the student-teacher relationship at age 5 (teacher-reported Student-Teacher Relationship Scale) mediated the association between children’s education-linked genetic propensities (PGSedu) and mother-rated reading and math performance at ages 6-8. We performed these analyses in 63,032 children from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study, a longitudinal, population-based, pregnancy cohort.
RESULTS: Higher PGSedu were significantly associated with lower student-teacher conflict (β = -0.08, p < .001) and positive teacher responses (β = 0.07, p = .001), but not student-teacher closeness (β = 0.01, p = .616). Associations between PGSedu and educational performance were significantly partially mediated via conflict (β = 0.01, p < .001) and positive teacher responses (β = 0.01, p = .019) but not closeness (β = 1 × 10-3, p = .619).
CONCLUSIONS: Student-teacher conflict and positive teacher responses may be mechanisms involved in the cascade of pathways linking children’s genetics to their educational outcomes.
JAMA Netw Open. 2026 May 1;9(5):e2615039. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.15039.ABSTRACTIMPORTANCE: Standardized diagnostic interviews (SDIs) are structured assessments based on established criteria to improve the consistency and reliability...
J Autism Dev Disord. 2026 May 28. doi: 10.1007/s10803-026-07367-4. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTPURPOSE: Mental health (MH) challenges in autistic youth are often under-identified due in...
J Autism Dev Disord. 2026 May 28. doi: 10.1007/s10803-026-07372-7. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTPURPOSE: This study examined the unexplored associations between childhood adversity, maltreatment, and psychotic...
Discov Nano. 2026 May 28;21(1):223. doi: 10.1186/s11671-026-04649-9.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Due to the limitations of conventional cancer chemotherapy, including low bioavailability, limited indicators of therapeutic improvement, and unclear...
Neuropsychol Rev. 2026 May 28. doi: 10.1007/s11065-026-09695-9. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTNeurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a rare genetic condition, frequently associated with learning difficulties. Functional neuroimaging...
JAMA Oncol. 2026 May 28. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2026.1459. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIMPORTANCE: Patients with cancer experience significantly higher rates of suicidal self-directed violence (SSDV; defined as...
