Charting the Cognitive Development of Children Using Adult ‘Polygenic g Scores’

The most highly predictive polygenic scores in the behavioural sciences are for cognitive traits, especially general cognitive ability (g) and educational attainment. We combined polygenic scores derived from genome-wide association studies of adult g and educational attainment to create adult ‘polygenic g scores’ which we used to chart the course of cognitive development of 10,000 white British children from toddlerhood through early adulthood. We integrated cross-sectional regression, latent growth curve, and confirmatory factor analysis to systematically characterise cognitive development. Polygenic g score showed minimal prediction in toddlerhood, modest prediction in childhood, and substantial prediction by early adulthood accounting for 12% of the variance. Higher polygenic g scores were associated with faster cognitive growth in latent growth models. Prediction was strongest for a cross-time latent cognitive factor (15%) capturing cognitive ability across development. By integrating polygenic prediction directly into a structural equation model framework, we provided a theoretical upper bound of genetic influences on g under minimal measurement error. We also examined the polygenic g score’s prediction of educational achievement, behaviour problems, and anthropometric outcomes and found similar developmental increases in prediction for educational achievement. Together, our findings demonstrate that adult polygenic g scores can be a useful tool for charting the development of cognitive traits.