ArticlePsychological medicine2025
Educational attainment and mental health outcomes: A within-sibship Mendelian randomization study.
Article in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of occupational sedentary behavior on mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Parental control and depressive symptoms in college freshmen with myopia: the mediating role of vision-related quality of life.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
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Abstract
backgroundObservational studies indicate that higher educational attainment (EA) is associated with a lower risk of many mental health conditions (MHC). We assessed to what extent this association is influenced by genetic nurture and demographic factors (i.e., assortative mating and population structure).
methodsWe conducted a within-sibship Mendelian randomization (MR) study. The sample consisted of 61 880 siblings (27 507 sibships) from the Trøndelag Health Study-HUNT (Norway) and UK Biobank (United Kingdom). MHC outcomes included symptom scores for anxiety, depression, and neuroticism, measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, along with self-reported psychotropic medication use.
resultsOne standard deviation (SD) increase in liability to EA was associated with lower anxiety (-0.20 SD [95% CI: -0.26, -0.14]), depression (-0.11 SD [-0.43, -0.22]), and neuroticism scores (-0.30 SD [-0.53, -0.06]), as well as lower odds of psychotropic medication use (OR: 0.60 [0.52, 0.69]). Within-sibship MR estimates remained consistent with population-based estimates: anxiety (-0.17 SD [-0.33, -0.00]); depression (-0.18 SD [-1.26, 0.89]); neuroticism (-0.29 SD [-0.43, -0.15]); psychotropic medication use (OR, 0.52 [0.34, 0.82]).
conclusionsHigher EA or genetic liability to education reduces symptoms of anxiety, neuroticism, and psychotropic medication use. These mental health benefits do not seem to be explained by EA-linked genetic nurture or demographic factors. Regarding depression, results were less conclusive due to imprecise estimates, though beneficial effects of genetic liability to higher EA are possible and warrant further investigation.
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