Table 1.
Incidence-Rate Ratios for the Association Between Polygenic Scores for Educational Attainment and Criminal Offending in the Two Birth Cohorts
| Effect and variable | E-Risk cohort (n = 1,857)a |
Dunedin cohort (n = 898)a |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bivariate | Multivariate | Bivariate | Multivariate | |
| Effect of participants’ polygenic scores on their official records of offending | ||||
| Low polygenic score for educational attainmentb | 1.33 [1.13, 1.55] | — | 1.21 [1.09, 1.34] | — |
| Polygenic effect on offending, accounting for a criminogenic family environment | ||||
| Low polygenic score for educational attainmentb | 1.34 [1.14, 1.57] | 1.20 [1.01, 1.42] | 1.23 [1.11, 1.36] | 1.17 [1.05, 1.30] |
| Socioeconomic deprivation | 2.26 [1.88, 2.71] | 1.96 [1.58, 2.44] | 1.40 [1.25, 1.57] | 1.35 [1.19, 1.52] |
| Parental antisocial behavior | 1.49 [1.34, 1.66] | 1.18 [1.03, 1.35] | 1.16 [1.05, 1.27] | 1.07 [0.96, 1.18] |
| Polygenic effect on offending, accounting for leaving school with poor qualifications | ||||
| Low polygenic score for educational attainmentb | 1.33 [1.13, 1.56] | 1.19 [1.02, 1.39] | 1.21 [1.09, 1.34] | 1.14 [1.03, 1.26] |
| Leaving school with poor qualifications | 4.27 [3.27, 5.59] | 4.02 [3.05, 5.28] | 2.83 [2.31, 3.46] | 2.71 [2.21, 3.32] |
| Polygenic effect on offending, accounting for early-emerging psychological and behavioral risk factors | ||||
| Low polygenic score for educational attainmentb | 1.30 [1.11, 1.53] | 1.22 [1.05, 1.42] | 1.21 [1.09, 1.35] | 1.14 [1.02, 1.27] |
| Low cognitive ability | 1.58 [1.35, 1.85] | 1.11 [0.93, 1.32] | 1.27 [1.14, 1.43] | .99 [0.86, 1.13] |
| Low self-control | 2.06 [1.83, 2.32] | 1.80 [1.58, 2.04] | 1.54 [1.43, 1.67] | 1.48 [1.34, 1.64] |
| Academic difficulties in primary school | 1.68 [1.47, 1.93] | 1.17 [1.00, 1.37] | 1.30 [1.16, 1.45] | 1.02 [0.89, 1.17] |
| Truancy | 3.92 [2.65, 5.80] | 1.98 [1.38, 2.83] | 2.11 [1.61, 2.76] | 1.25 [0.91, 1.72] |
Note: Values in brackets are 95% confidence intervals.
a
Crime records data were obtained for 93% (1,857/1,999) and 98% (898/918) of the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) and Dunedin cohorts, respectively. bThe polygenic score was reverse-coded in these analyses, so that a higher score indicates a greater genetic risk for low educational attainment.