Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35115518›Full record

ArticleNature communications2022

Assortative mating biases marker-based heritability estimators.

Richard Border, Sean O'Rourke, Teresa de Candia, Michael E Goddard, Peter M Visscher, Loic Yengo, Matt Jones, Matthew C Keller

Erratum issuedAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 68 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
68citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

68 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Big data and psychiatry: advances, constraints and future directions.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2026
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  10. Observational epidemiological studies can mitigate genetic confounding with a genetic relatedness matrix.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
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  12. Assessing the causal impact of leisure-time physical activity and screen time on lifespan: a Mendelian randomization study.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2026
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  20. Family-GWAS reveals effects of environment and mating on genetic associations.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025
    Article

8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Richard BorderDepartments of Neurology and Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA. border.richard@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6293-2968
Sean O'RourkeDepartment of Mathematics, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Teresa de CandiaInstitute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Michael E GoddardFaculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Peter M VisscherInstitute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2143-8760
Loic YengoInstitute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD, Australia.
Matt Jones *Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Matthew C Keller *Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA. matthew.c.keller@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6075-9882

Funding

Training Grant in Neurobehavioral GeneticsT32NS048004 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI BEARDEN, CARRIE E, OPHOFF, ROEL A · 2004 to 2025
$5.8M
Estimating the genetic and environmental architecture of psychiatric disordersR01MH100141 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · PI KELLER, MATTHEW CHARLES · 2013 to 2022
$5.3M
Causes and consequences of mental disorders: The environmental and genetic influences of parents on offspring.R01MH130448 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · PI Matthew Charles Keller · 2022 to 2026
$3.7M
Medical Research Council MC_PC_17228Medical Research Council MC_QA137853NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH100141NINDS NIH HHS T32 NS048004
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many traits are subject to assortative mating, with recent molecular genetic findings confirming longstanding theoretical predictions that assortative mating induces long range dependence across causal variants. However, all marker-based heritability estimators implicitly assume mating is random. We provide mathematical and simulation-based evidence demonstrating that both method-of-moments and likelihood-based estimators are biased in the presence of assortative mating and derive corrected heritability estimators for traits subject to assortment. Finally, we demonstrate that the empirical patterns of estimates across methods and sample sizes for real traits subject to assortative mating are congruent with expected assortative mating-induced biases. For example, marker-based heritability estimates for height are 14% - 23% higher than corrected estimates using UK Biobank data.

Indexed as

AlgorithmsModels, GeneticBiasComputer SimulationFemaleGenetics, PopulationGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansLikelihood FunctionsLinkage DisequilibriumMaleMendelian Randomization AnalysisPhenotypePolymorphism, Single NucleotideQuantitative Trait, HeritableReproduction

Identifiers

PMID35115518
PMCPMC8814020

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.