{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"medRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T12:57:05Z","timestamp":1768568225071,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,11]]},"group-title":"Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology","reference-count":42,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,11]],"date-time":"2024-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1723334400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Importance<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Observational studies have demonstrated consistent protective effects of higher educational attainment (EA) on the risk of suffering mental health conditions (MHC). Determining whether these beneficial effects are causal is challenging given the potential role of dynastic effects and demographic factors (assortative mating and population structure) in this association.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>To evaluate to what extent the relationship between EA and various MHC is independent from dynastic effects and demographic factors.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Within-sibship Mendelian randomization (MR) study.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>One-sample MR analyses included participants\u2019 data from the Tr\u00f8ndelag Health Study (HUNT, Norway) and UK Biobank (United Kingdom). For two-sample MR analyses we used summary statistics from publicly available genome-wide-association-studies.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>61 880 siblings (27 507 sibships).<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Exposure<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Years of education.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Main outcomes<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Scores for symptoms of anxiety, depression and neuroticism using the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, as well as self-reported consumption of psychotropic medication.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>One standard deviation (SD) unit increase in years of education was associated with a lower symptom score of anxiety (\u22120.20 SD [95%CI: \u22120.26, \u22120.14]), depression (\u22120.11 SD [\u22120.43, 0.22]), neuroticism (\u22120.30 SD [\u22120.53, \u22120.06]), and lower odds of psychotropic medication consumption (OR: 0.60 [0.52, 0.69]). Estimates from the within-sibship MR analyses showed some attenuation, which however were suggestive of a causal association (anxiety: \u22120.17 SD [\u22120.33, \u22120.00]; depression: \u22120.18 SD [-1.26, 0.89]; neuroticism: \u22120.29 SD [\u22120.43, \u22120.15]); psychotropic medication consumption: OR, 0.52 [0.34, 0.82]).<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions and Relevance<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Associations between EA and MHC in adulthood, although to some extend explained by dynastic effects and demographic factors, overall remain robust, indicative of a causal effect. However, larger studies are warranted to improve statistical power and further validate our conclusions.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Key points<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Question<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Are the protective effects of higher educational attainment on the risk of suffering mental health conditions independent from familial (i.e.,dynastic effects) and demographic factors (i.e., assortative mating and population structure)?<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Findings<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Although to some extend explained by familial and demographic factors, overall the protective effects of higher educational attainment remain robust.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Meaning<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our findings are consistent with those of previous observational studies, which suggests that higher educational attainment may causally reduce the risk of suffering a mental health condition.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1101\/2024.08.10.24311789","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,11]],"date-time":"2024-08-11T23:20:15Z","timestamp":1723418415000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Educational attainment and mental health conditions: a within-sibship Mendelian randomization study"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2493-0769","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mar\u00eda Fernanda","family":"Vinueza Veloz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laxmi","family":"Bhatta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Paul Remy","family":"Jones","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Martin","family":"Tesli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"George Davey","family":"Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2460-0508","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Neil Martin","family":"Davies","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ben M.","family":"Brumpton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"\u00d8yvind Erik","family":"N\u00e6ss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2024081401450793000_2024.08.10.24311789v1.1","unstructured":"World Health Organization. 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