ArticleNpj mental health research2024
An exploration into the causal relationships between educational attainment, intelligence, and wellbeing: an observational and two-sample Mendelian randomisation study.
Article in Npj mental health research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Strengths-based resilience: the biopsychosocial factors that differentiate 12-year mental well-being trajectories following adverse childhood experiences.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Educational attainment and subjective well-being among Chinese residents: the mediating role of language proficiency and the moderating role of the Hukou system.BMC psychology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Educational attainment is associated with a range of positive outcomes, yet its impact on wellbeing is unclear, and complicated by high correlations with intelligence. We use genetic and observational data to investigate for the first time, whether educational attainment and intelligence are causally and independently related to wellbeing. Results from our multivariable Mendelian randomisation demonstrated a positive causal impact of a genetic predisposition to higher educational attainment on wellbeing that remained after accounting for intelligence, and a negative impact of intelligence that was independent of educational attainment. Observational analyses suggested that these associations may be subject to sex differences, with benefits to wellbeing greater for females who attend higher education compared to males. For intelligence, males scoring more highly on measures related to happiness were those with lower intelligence. Our findings demonstrate a unique benefit for wellbeing of staying in school, over and above improving cognitive abilities, with benefits likely to be greater for females compared to males.
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Registered trials
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