Student–teacher relationships as a mediator of children's education‐linked genetics: results from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study

Background Genetic differences are robustly associated with educational outcomes, but how they become linked is poorly understood. A plausible hypothesis, yet to be thoroughly empirically tested, is that the school environment mediates the association. Methods Using structural equation models, we tested whether the student–teacher relationship at age 5 (teacher‐reported Student–Teacher Relationship Scale) mediated the association between children's education‐linked genetic propensities (PGS edu ) and mother‐rated reading and math performance at ages 6–8. We performed these analyses in 63,032 children from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study, a longitudinal, population‐based, pregnancy cohort. Results Higher PGS edu were significantly associated with lower student–teacher conflict (β = −0.08, p < .001) and positive teacher responses (β = 0.07, p = .001), but not student–teacher closeness (β = 0.01, p = .616). Associations between PGS edu and educational performance were significantly partially mediated via conflict (β = 0.01, p < .001) and positive teacher responses (β = 0.01, p = .019) but not closeness (β = 1 × 10 −3 , p = .619). Conclusions Student–teacher conflict and positive teacher responses may be mechanisms involved in the cascade of pathways linking children's genetics to their educational outcomes.