TY - JOUR
T1 - Maternal genetic risk for depression and child human capital
AU - Menta, Giorgia
AU - Lepinteur, Anthony
AU - Clark, Andrew
AU - Ghislandi, Simone
AU - D'Ambrosio, Conchita
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - We here address the causal relationship between the maternal genetic risk for depression and child human capital using UK birth-cohort data. We find that an increase of one standard deviation (SD) in the maternal polygenic risk score for depression reduces their children's cognitive and non-cognitive skill scores by 5 to 7% of a SD throughout adolescence. Our results are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests addressing, among others, concerns about pleiotropy and dynastic effects. Our Gelbach decomposition analysis suggests that the strongest mediator is genetic nurture (through maternal depression itself), with genetic inheritance playing only a marginal role.
AB - We here address the causal relationship between the maternal genetic risk for depression and child human capital using UK birth-cohort data. We find that an increase of one standard deviation (SD) in the maternal polygenic risk score for depression reduces their children's cognitive and non-cognitive skill scores by 5 to 7% of a SD throughout adolescence. Our results are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests addressing, among others, concerns about pleiotropy and dynastic effects. Our Gelbach decomposition analysis suggests that the strongest mediator is genetic nurture (through maternal depression itself), with genetic inheritance playing only a marginal role.
KW - maternal depression
KW - human capital
KW - ALSPAC
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144513182&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102718
DO - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102718
M3 - Article
C2 - 36565586
SN - 0167-6296
VL - 87
JO - Journal of Health Economics
JF - Journal of Health Economics
M1 - 102718
ER -