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Genetic and Environmental Influences on Literacy and Numeracy Performance in Australian School Children in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9

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Abstract

We examined the extent to which genes and the environment contributed to variation in and covariation among reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation, writing, and numeracy in Australian school children in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9. Heritability was generally high: reading .58–.71 (excepting Grade 5 girls), spelling .68–.78; grammar and punctuation .52–.66, writing .39–.52, and numeracy .39–.79. Boys’ performance varied more than girls in spelling and numeracy, and the common environment was a greater influence in girls than boys in Grade 3 numeracy and Grade 5 reading. Independent pathway models showed similar genetic and environmental structures at each grade with approximately one third to one half of the variation in each domain due to genes that influenced all domains. The covariation among the domains was largely mediated by genes. Results suggest substantial uniformity in the environmental factors influencing these academic domains.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by an Australian Research Council grant (DP120102414). The Australian Twin Registry is supported by an enabling grant (628911) from the National Health and Medical Research Council. We thank the Australian Twin Registry, and the twins and parents involved.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of Psychology, School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Katrina L. Grasby, William L. Coventry & Brian Byrne

  2. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Cognition and its Disorders, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Katrina L. Grasby & Brian Byrne

  3. National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Excellence in Twin Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Brian Byrne

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Richard K. Olson

  5. Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Rd, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Katrina L. Grasby & Sarah E. Medland

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  1. Katrina L. Grasby
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  2. William L. Coventry
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  3. Brian Byrne
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Correspondence to Katrina L. Grasby.

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Conflict of interest

Katrina L. Grasby, William L. Coventry, Brian Byrne, Richard K. Olson, and Sarah E. Medland declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study, and all procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of New England (HE12-150).

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Edited by Yoon-Mi Hur.

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Grasby, K.L., Coventry, W.L., Byrne, B. et al. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Literacy and Numeracy Performance in Australian School Children in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9. Behav Genet 46, 627–648 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-016-9797-z

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