ArticlePloS one2012
Socioeconomic status (SES) and children's intelligence (IQ): in a UK-representative sample SES moderates the environmental, not genetic, effect on IQ.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 105 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
105 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 328 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intelligence outcome of pediatric intensive care unit survivors: a systematic meta-analysis and meta-regression.BMC medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Research Review: Outcomes of 24- to 36-month-old children with autism spectrum disorder vary by ascertainment strategy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2020Pooled it
- Large Cross-National Differences in Gene × Socioeconomic Status Interaction on Intelligence.Psychological science · 2016Pooled it
- Continuity of genetic and environmental influences on cognition across the life span: a meta-analysis of longitudinal twin and adoption studies.Psychological bulletin · 2014Pooled it
- Explaining the increasing heritability of cognitive ability across development: a meta-analysis of longitudinal twin and adoption studies.Psychological science · 2013Pooled it
- Predictors of cognitive development in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 and plexiform neurofibromas.Developmental medicine and child neurology · 2020Trial
- On the Same Wavelength: The Relationship between Neural Synchrony and Cognitive Ability during Movie Watching in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence.Developmental neuroscience · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic Differences in Cognitive Ability Across Childhood and Adolescence: An Investigation of Genetic, Individual, and Environmental Factors.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- Childhood-Onset Psychosis: A large UK case series.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Cumulative childhood lead exposure estimation and school-age IQ in a prospective birth cohort.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Article
- Family income and polygenic scores are independently but not interactively associated with cognitive performance among youth genetically similar to European reference populations.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- Unlocking math potential in students from lower SES backgrounds - using instructional scaffolds to improve performance.NPJ science of learning · 2025Article
- Initiation and stability of self-harm in adolescence and early adulthood: investigating social and aetiological factors in twins.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Article
- Mathematics interest, self-efficacy, and anxiety predict STEM career choice in emerging adulthood.NPJ science of learning · 2024Article
- Adolescents' Perceptions of Household Chaos Predict Their Adult Mental Health: A Twin-Difference Longitudinal Cohort Study.Psychological science · 2024Article
- Social, Demographic, and Psychological Factors Associated with Middle-Aged Mother's Vocabulary: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study.Journal of Intelligence · 2024Article
- Postnatal Brain Trajectories and Maternal Intelligence Predict Childhood Outcomes in Complex CHD.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Genotype-Environment Interaction in ADHD: Genetic Predisposition Determines the Extent to Which Environmental Influences Explain Variability in the Symptom Dimensions Hyperactivity and Inattention.Behavior genetics · 2024Article
- Comorbidities and Disease Duration in Tourette Syndrome: Impact on Cognition and Quality of Life of Children.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Is quality of life related to high autistic traits, high ADHD traits and their Interaction? Evidence from a Young-Adult Community-Based twin sample.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Article
45 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe environment can moderate the effect of genes - a phenomenon called gene-environment (GxE) interaction. Several studies have found that socioeconomic status (SES) modifies the heritability of children's intelligence. Among low-SES families, genetic factors have been reported to explain less of the variance in intelligence; the reverse is found for high-SES families. The evidence however is inconsistent. Other studies have reported an effect in the opposite direction (higher heritability in lower SES), or no moderation of the genetic effect on intelligence.
methodsUsing 8716 twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), we attempted to replicate the reported moderating effect of SES on children's intelligence at ages 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 14: i.e., lower heritability in lower-SES families. We used a twin model that allowed for a main effect of SES on intelligence, as well as a moderating effect of SES on the genetic and environmental components of intelligence.
resultsWe found greater variance in intelligence in low-SES families, but minimal evidence of GxE interaction across the eight ages. A power calculation indicated that a sample size of about 5000 twin pairs is required to detect moderation of the genetic component of intelligence as small as 0.25, with about 80% power - a difference of 11% to 53% in heritability, in low- (-2 standard deviations, SD) and high-SES (+2 SD) families. With samples at each age of about this size, the present study found no moderation of the genetic effect on intelligence. However, we found the greater variance in low-SES families is due to moderation of the environmental effect - an environment-environment interaction.
conclusionsIn a UK-representative sample, the genetic effect on intelligence is similar in low- and high-SES families. Children's shared experiences appear to explain the greater variation in intelligence in lower SES.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.