TY - JOUR
PY - 2022//
TI - School performance and genetic propensities for educational attainment and depression in the etiology of self-harm: a Danish population-based study
JO - Nordic journal of psychiatry
A1 - Sørensen, Holger J.
A1 - Antonsen, Sussie
A1 - Benros, Michael E.
A1 - Erlangsen, Annette
A1 - Albiñana, Clara
A1 - Nordentoft, Merete
A1 - Børglum, Anders D.
A1 - Mors, Ole
A1 - Werge, Thomas
A1 - Mortensen, Preben B.
A1 - Hougaard, David
A1 - Webb, Roger T.
A1 - Agerbo, Esben
SP - ePub
EP - ePub
VL - ePub
IS - ePub
N2 - BACKGROUND: Poor school performance is linked to higher risks of self-harm. The association might be explained through genetic liabilities for depression or educational attainment. We investigated the association between school performance and self-harm in a population-based sample while assessing the potential influence of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for depression (PRS(MDD)) and for educational attainment (PRS(EDU)).
METHOD: We conducted a follow-up study of individuals born 1987-98 and followed from age 18 until 2016. The total sample consisted of a case group (23,779 diagnosed with mental disorders; schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a randomly sampled comparison group (n = 10,925). Genome-wide data were obtained from the Neonatal Screening Biobank and information on school performance, family psychiatric history, and socioeconomic status from national administrative registers.
RESULTS: Individuals in the top PRS(MDD) decile were at higher self-harm risk in the case group (IRR: 1.30; 95% CI 1.15-1.46), whereas individuals in the top PRS(EDU) decile were at lower self-harm risk (IRR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.55-0.74). Poorer school performance was associated with higher self-harm risk in persons diagnosed with any mental disorder (IRR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.44-1.99) and among the comparison group (IRR: 7.93; 95% CI: 4.47-15.18). Observed effects of PRS(MDD) and PRS(EDU) on self-harm risk were strongest for individuals with poor school performance.
CONCLUSION: Associations between PRS(MDD) and self-harm risk and between PRS(EDU) and self-harm risk were found. Nevertheless, these polygenic scores seem currently of limited clinical utility for identifying individuals at high self-harm risk.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0803-9488 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2022.2078998 ID - ref1 ER -