{"id":1667,"date":"2021-01-26T11:03:29","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T11:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/iprblog\/?p=1667"},"modified":"2021-01-26T11:03:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T11:03:29","slug":"using-genetics-to-understand-the-relationship-between-young-peoples-health-and-educational-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/iprblog\/2021\/01\/26\/using-genetics-to-understand-the-relationship-between-young-peoples-health-and-educational-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"Using genetics to understand the relationship between young people\u2019s health and educational outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amanda Hughes<\/a> works at the Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol. Dr Kaitlin Wade<\/a> is Lecturer and Co-Director of MSc Epidemiology at the University of Bristol. Dr Matt Dickson<\/a> is Reader in Public Policy at the University of Bath Institute for Policy Research (IPR). Professor Frances Rice<\/a> is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at Cardiff University. Alisha Davies<\/a> is a Consultant in Public Health and Head of the Research and Evaluation Division at Public Health Wales. Dr Neil Davies<\/a> is a Senior Research Fellow in the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol. Professor Laura Howe<\/a> is Professor of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics at the University of Bristol.<\/em><\/p>\n

Young people with health problems tend to do less well in school than other students, but it has never been clear why. One explanation is that health problems directly damage educational outcomes. In that case, policymakers aiming to raise educational standards might want to focus first on health as a means of improving attainment.<\/p>\n

But are there other explanations? What if falling behind in school can affect health, for instance causing depression? Also, many health problems are more common among children from less advantaged backgrounds \u2013 for example, from families with fewer financial resources, or whose parents are themselves unwell. These children also tend to do less well in school, for reasons that may have nothing to do with their own health. How do we know if their health, or their circumstances, are affecting attainment?<\/p>\n

It is also unclear if health matters equally for education at all points in development, or particularly in certain school years. Establishing how much health\u00a0does<\/em>\u00a0impact learning, when, and through which mechanisms, would better equip policymakers to improve educational outcomes.<\/p>\n

Using genetic data helps us understand causality<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genetic data can help us answer these questions. Crucially, experiences like family financial difficulties, which might influence both a young person\u2019s health and their learning, cannot change their genes. So, if young people genetically inclined to have asthma are more absent from school, or do less well in their GCSEs, that would strongly suggest an impact of asthma itself. Similarly, while falling behind in school might well trigger depression, it cannot change a person\u2019s genetic propensity for depression. So, a connection between genetic propensity for depression and worse educational outcomes supports an impact of depression itself. This approach, of harnessing genetic information to better understand causal processes, is known as\u00a0Mendelian randomisation<\/a>.<\/u><\/p>\n

To find out more, we investigated links between<\/p>\n