Children’s Genetics and Family Dynamics: An Evocative Effects Analysis of the Norwegian Mother-Father-and-Child Study

Evelina Akimova , Purdue University
Agnes Fauske, University of Oslo
Ruth Eva Jørgensen, University of Oslo
Alexandra Havdahl, Psychiatric Genetic Epidemiology Group, Research Department, Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital
Elizabeth Corfield, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol
Melinda Mills, University of Oxford
Torkild Hovde Lyngstad, University of Oslo

Family demographic behavior is often studied as a response to structural conditions or parental characteristics, yet children may themselves shape key family trajectories, known as an evocative correlation. Using the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) and analyzing 40,000 genotyped mother–father–child trios, we test whether children’s polygenic indices (PGIs) predict subsequent fertility, partnership dissolution, and transition to marriage. Accounting for parental PGIs, we found limited evidence for evocative effects across most traits. The exception was that children with a higher ADHD PGI predicted increased parental partnership dissolution (7% [CI=2.9-11.8%] per s.d.), especially in families with daughters (11% [CI=4.9-18%] per s.d.), higher socioeconomic status (15% [CI=7.7-23.2%] per s.d.), and older maternal age at first birth (10% [CI=3-17%] per s.d.). The main source of variation is the socio-economic dimension where child-driven effects are stronger in higher-SES families. The study provides evidence for evocative gene-environment correlations in family demography, demonstrating the importance of child-to-parent effects in shaping family trajectories.

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 Presented in Session 53. Family, Wellbeing and Health