New methods, persistent issues, and one solution: Gene-environment interaction studies of childhood cognitive development

Sophie von Stumm and Allie F. Nancarrow

Intelligence, 2024, vol. 105, issue C

Abstract: Children's differences in cognitive development stem from the complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Identifying gene-environment interactions in cognitive development is key for effectively targeting interventions that improve children's life chances. The advent of polygenic scores, which aggregate DNA variants to index a person's genetic propensities for phenotypic development, has created unprecedented opportunities for pinpointing gene-environment interactions. Yet, the issue of statistical power – the probability of detecting a true effect – prevails, and no replicable gene-environment interactions in child cognitive development have been reported. In this review article, we recapitulate three approaches to studying gene-environment interactions, including twin studies, candidate gene models, and polygenic score methods. We then discuss the issue of statistical power in gene-environment interaction research and conclude that larger samples are key to ushering a new era of replicable gene-environment interaction findings.

Keywords: Gene-environment interaction; Statistical power; Sample size; Effect size; Cognitive development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:intell:v:105:y:2024:i:c:s016028962400028x

DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2024.101834

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