Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
Background. Despite convincing animal experiments demonstrating the potential for environmental exposures in one generation to have demonstrable effects generations later, there have been few relevant human studies. Those that have been undertaken have demonstrated associations, for example, between...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wellcome
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Wellcome Open Research |
| Online Access: | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-198/v2 |
| _version_ | 1829495103674122240 |
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| author | Jean Golding Gerard van den Berg Kate Northstone Matthew Suderman Genette Ellis Yasmin Iles-Caven Steve Gregory Marcus Pembrey |
| author_facet | Jean Golding Gerard van den Berg Kate Northstone Matthew Suderman Genette Ellis Yasmin Iles-Caven Steve Gregory Marcus Pembrey |
| author_sort | Jean Golding |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background. Despite convincing animal experiments demonstrating the potential for environmental exposures in one generation to have demonstrable effects generations later, there have been few relevant human studies. Those that have been undertaken have demonstrated associations, for example, between exposures such as nutrition and cigarette smoking in the grandparental generation and outcomes in grandchildren. We hypothesised that such transgenerational associations might be associated with the IQ of the grandchild, and that it would be likely that there would be differences in results between the sexes of the grandparents, parents, and children. Method. We used three-generational data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We incorporated environmental factors concerning grandparents (F0) and focussed on three exposures that we hypothesised may have independent transgenerational associations with the IQ of the grandchildren (F2): (i) UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at grandparental birth year; (ii) whether grandfather smoked; and (iii) whether the grandmother smoked in the relevant pregnancy. Potential confounders were ages of grandparents when the relevant parent was born, ethnic background, education level and social class of each grandparent. Results. After adjustment, all three target exposures had specific associations with measures of IQ in the grandchild. Paternal grandfather smoking was associated with reduced total IQ at 15 years; maternal grandfather smoking with reduced performance IQ at 8 years and reduced total IQ at 15. Paternal grandmother smoking in pregnancy was associated with reduced performance IQ at 8, especially in grandsons. GDP at grandparents’ birth produced independent associations of reduced IQ with higher GDP; this was particularly true of paternal grandmothers. Conclusions. These results are complex and need to be tested in other datasets. They highlight the need to consider possible transgenerational associations in studying developmental variation in populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:03:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f3dc38b8982e45bd8377b2e0b9fdad74 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2398-502X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:03:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Wellcome |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wellcome Open Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-f3dc38b8982e45bd8377b2e0b9fdad742022-12-21T22:40:06ZengWellcomeWellcome Open Research2398-502X2021-03-01510.12688/wellcomeopenres.16205.218160Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]Jean Golding0Gerard van den Berg1Kate Northstone2Matthew Suderman3Genette Ellis4Yasmin Iles-Caven5Steve Gregory6Marcus Pembrey7Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKDepartment of Economics, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKBackground. Despite convincing animal experiments demonstrating the potential for environmental exposures in one generation to have demonstrable effects generations later, there have been few relevant human studies. Those that have been undertaken have demonstrated associations, for example, between exposures such as nutrition and cigarette smoking in the grandparental generation and outcomes in grandchildren. We hypothesised that such transgenerational associations might be associated with the IQ of the grandchild, and that it would be likely that there would be differences in results between the sexes of the grandparents, parents, and children. Method. We used three-generational data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We incorporated environmental factors concerning grandparents (F0) and focussed on three exposures that we hypothesised may have independent transgenerational associations with the IQ of the grandchildren (F2): (i) UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at grandparental birth year; (ii) whether grandfather smoked; and (iii) whether the grandmother smoked in the relevant pregnancy. Potential confounders were ages of grandparents when the relevant parent was born, ethnic background, education level and social class of each grandparent. Results. After adjustment, all three target exposures had specific associations with measures of IQ in the grandchild. Paternal grandfather smoking was associated with reduced total IQ at 15 years; maternal grandfather smoking with reduced performance IQ at 8 years and reduced total IQ at 15. Paternal grandmother smoking in pregnancy was associated with reduced performance IQ at 8, especially in grandsons. GDP at grandparents’ birth produced independent associations of reduced IQ with higher GDP; this was particularly true of paternal grandmothers. Conclusions. These results are complex and need to be tested in other datasets. They highlight the need to consider possible transgenerational associations in studying developmental variation in populations.https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-198/v2 |
| spellingShingle | Jean Golding Gerard van den Berg Kate Northstone Matthew Suderman Genette Ellis Yasmin Iles-Caven Steve Gregory Marcus Pembrey Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] Wellcome Open Research |
| title | Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full | Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_fullStr | Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_short | Grandchild’s IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_sort | grandchild s iq is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents version 2 peer review 2 approved |
| url | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-198/v2 |
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