Academic Achievement Predicted by Non-Cognitive Skills: Study
Greater academic achievement is tied to non-cognitive skills, such as motivation and self-regulation, according to this large genetic study of children and teens. Targeted interventions designed to bolster these skills could benefit children with ADHD.
September 30, 2024
Academic achievement is strongly predicted by the presence of certain non-cognitive skills, like persistence and motivation, which are linked to genetic factors and become increasingly important as children age, according to a study published in Nature Human Behaviour.1
“Children who are emotionally stable, motivated, and capable of regulating their attention and impulses do better in school, independent of their level of cognitive ability,” the researchers wrote.
The study involved a U.K.-based sample of more than 10,000 children aged 7 to 16 that used surveys and multiple genetic methods, including twin models and DNA-based analyses. Data was collected at ages 7, 9, 12, and 16.
Non-Cognitive Skills
Parents, teachers, and twins were asked questions related to the child’s performance at school and non-cognitive skills, including academic interest and self-regulation. After accounting for general cognitive ability, researchers performed multiple regression analyses that revealed an association between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement at all ages studied.
Non-cognitive skills grew more predictive of academic achievement as children approached late adolescence. Self-report surveys revealed the biggest effect sizes (as compared to surveys completed by parents and teachers). The correlation between self-reported, education-specific non-cognitive skills and academic achievement grew significantly over time (from r=0.10 at age 9 to r=0.51 at age 16).
While cognitive skills refer to objective traits, such as memory, reasoning, and IQ, non-cognitive skills refer to more subjective qualities. In this study, non-cognitive skills were broadly classified as:
- Education-specific non-cognitive skills (academic interest, attitudes towards learning, academic self-efficacy)
- Domain-general self-regulation skills (behavioral and emotional regulation that exist outside of school).
“These findings highlight the important role that non-cognitive skills play during primary and secondary education and suggest that fostering such skills might provide an avenue for successful educational strategies and interventions,” the researchers wrote.
Genetic Influence
Similar findings were revealed using polygenic scores, or PGSs, which estimate the effect of multiple genes on a specific trait. Non-cognitive PGS on academic achievement doubled from ages 7 to 16, while cognitive PGS stayed the same. By the end of the study, the variance in academic achievement was equally accounted for by non-cognitive and cognitive skills.
When controlling for shared family environments, as in the case of siblings, the effects of non-cognitive PGS were slightly diminished but still significant. According to the gene-environment correlation theory, or rGe, this can be attributed to genetic control over environmental exposures.2 As children grow up, they “evoke and actively select academic environments that correlate with their genetic disposition towards non-cognitive skills,” the researchers wrote. These traits are then reinforced over time. In contrast, cognitive PGS predictions remained the same through development.
Socioeconomic status did not alter the overall findings. Although children from higher socio-economic backgrounds performed better academically, the slope of association between academic achievement and non-cognitive skills did not change from one group to the next.
“Higher PGS, for both cognitive and non-cognitive skills, corresponded to higher academic achievement, and higher SES corresponded to both higher mean PGSs and higher achievement, indicating a correlation rather than an interaction between genetic and environmental influences on academic achievement,” the researchers wrote.
Mental Health & ADHD
The study confirmed strong correlations between cognitive and non-cognitive genetic factors and their links to psychiatric, personality, and socioeconomic traits. But non-cognitive skills played a bigger role in certain outcomes, like mental health. The disparity between genetic factors was more pronounced for certain psychiatric traits, such as autism and ADHD, compared to earlier studies.3
Some studies suggest mental health conditions are influenced by the same genetic factors. A study published in Nature in 2023 and covered by ADDitude found that 84% to 98% of common genetic variants tied to ADHD seemed to influence other psychiatric disorders, including autism, depression, and schizophrenia.4 Genetic research has also linked ADHD to emotion regulation and motivation.5
“One of the main areas of the brain affected by the genetics of ADHD is the reward center — in particular, the transmission of a chemical called dopamine. The neurons in the brain of a person with ADHD act differently…They need higher levels of stimulation from their environment,” said Maggie Sibley, Ph.D., in her 2022 ADDitude webinar “My Teen with ADHD Lacks All Motivation! How to Build Executive Function Skills and Drive.”
“You can see that translating into prominent motivation difficulties in kids with ADHD,” Sibley said.
Limitations and Future Research
Targeted interventions that build non-cognitive skills could benefit children with relative social and emotional weaknesses, including those with ADHD. But more research is needed to understand how non-cognitive skills develop. Future studies should focus on the association between these and academic achievement.
View Article Sources
1 Malanchini, M., Allegrini, A.G., Nivard, M.G. et al. (2024). Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development. Nat Hum Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9
2 Jaffee, S., & Price, T. (2007). Gene–environment correlations: a review of the evidence and implications for prevention of mental illness. Mol Psychiatry, 12, 432–442. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001950
3 Demange, P. A. et al. (2021). Investigating the genetic architecture of noncognitive skills using GWAS-by-subtraction. Nat. Genet., 53, 35–44. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-00754-2
4 Demontis, D., Walters, G. B., Athanasiadis, G., Walters, R., Therrien, K., Nielsen, T. T., … Børglum, A. D. (2023). Genome-wide analyses of ADHD identify 27 risk loci, refine the genetic architecture and implicate several cognitive domains. Nature Genetics, 55(2), 198–208. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01285-8
5 Merwood, A., Chen, W., Rijsdijk, F., Skirrow, C., Larsson, H., Thapar, A., Kuntsi, J., & Asherson, P. (2013). Genetic association between the symptoms of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder and emotional lability in child and adolescent twins. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(2), 209‐220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.11.006
