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ABSTRACT: Importance
There is a well-established negative association of educational attainment (EA) and other traits related to cognitive ability with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood.Objectives
To investigate the association of PTSD with traits related to EA.Design, setting, and participants
Genetic correlation, polygenic risk scoring, and mendelian randomization (MR) were conducted including 23?185 individuals with PTSD and 151?309 control participants from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium for PTSD and up to 1?131?881 individuals assessed for EA and related traits from UK Biobank, 23andMe, and the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium. Data were analyzed from July 3 through November 19, 2018.Main outcomes and measures
Genetic correlation obtained from linkage disequilibrium score regression, phenotypic variance explained by polygenic risk scores, and association estimates from MR.Results
Summary association data from multiple genome-wide association studies were available for a total of 1?180?352 participants (634?391 [53.7%] women). Posttraumatic stress disorder showed negative genetic correlations with EA (rg?=?-0.26; SE?=?0.05; P?=?4.60?×?10-8). Mendelian randomization analysis, conducting considering a random-effects inverse-variance weighted method, indicated that EA has a negative association with PTSD (??=?-0.23; 95% CI, -0.07 to -0.39; P?=?.004). Investigating potential mediators of the EA-PTSD association, propensity for trauma exposure and risk-taking behaviors were observed as risk factors for PTSD independent of EA (trauma exposure: ??=?0.37; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.52; P?=?2.57?×?10-5; risk-taking: ??=?0.76; 95% CI, 0.38 to 1.13; P?=?1.13?×?10-4), while income may mediate the association of EA with PSTD (MR income: ??=?-0.18; 95% CI, -0.29 to -0.07; P?=?.001; MR EA: ??=?-0.23; 95% CI, -0.39 to -0.07; P?=?.004; multivariable MR income: ??=?-0.32; 95% CI, -0.57 to 0.07; P?=?.02; multivariable MR EA: ??=?-0.04; 95% CI, -0.29 to 0.21; SE, 0.13; P?=?.79).Conclusions and relevance
Large-scale genomic data sets add further evidence to the negative association of EA with PTSD, also supporting the role of economic status as a mediator in the association observed.
SUBMITTER: Polimanti R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6503495 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Polimanti Renato R Ratanatharathorn Andrew A Maihofer Adam X AX Choi Karmel W KW Stein Murray B MB Morey Rajendra A RA Logue Mark W MW Nievergelt Caroline M CM Stein Dan J DJ Koenen Karestan C KC Gelernter Joel J
JAMA network open 20190503 5
<h4>Importance</h4>There is a well-established negative association of educational attainment (EA) and other traits related to cognitive ability with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood.<h4>Objectives</h4>To investigate the association of PTSD with traits related to EA.<h4>Design, setting, and participants</h4>Genetic correlation, polygenic risk scoring, and mendelian randomization (MR) were conducted including 23 185 individuals with PTSD an ...[more]