Rosa Catherine Gillespie Cheesman

• Schwaba, Ted; Sullivan, Margaret L. Clapp; Akingbuwa, Wonuola A.; Ilves, Kerli; Tanksley, Peter T. & Williams, Camille M. [Show all 138 contributors for this article] (2026). Robust inference and correlates from genetic associations with personality. Nature. ISSN 0028-0836. doi: 10.1038/s41586-026-10992-9. Full text in Research Archive
• Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Nivard, Michel G.; Torvik, Fartein Ask; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Nordmo, Magnus [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2026). No evidence of parental mental health influencing children’s academic achievement: a within-family study. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. ISSN 1018-8827. doi: 10.1007/s00787-026-03100-9. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Children of parents with psychopathology generally perform less well in school than their peers. Parental symptoms might not, however, account for their lower achievement, as other familial factors might contribute. To examine the role of parental symptoms, we analyse data from 9,000 families in the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Study (MoBa). Parents reported their symptoms of anxiety, depression, ADHD, eating disorders, and alcohol use disorder during pregnancy and during their child’s childhood. Children in 5th grade (aged 10) completed nationally-standardised tests of mathematics, reading comprehension, and English (as an additional language). Comparing children who are cousins (children-of-siblings design), we controlled for unmeasured factors shared among family members that confound the relationship between parental mental health and children’s academic achievement. We found small associations between greater parental symptoms and lower scores in reading and mathematics (− 0.060 ≤ β ≤ −0.013). However, these associations were no longer significant when comparing cousins whose parents differ in mental health. Results suggest that parental symptoms do not exert a direct, clinically meaningful effect on children’s academic achievement. Although non-significant, associations with parental symptoms measured close to the child’s academic test are less attenuated than those measured during pregnancy. Notably, comparison between the overall MoBa sample and the children-of-siblings samples suggests ascertainment differences that hinder strong generalisations. Our findings underscore the importance of quasi-experimental family designs in identifying modifiable targets in intergenerational health and education research. Supporting parental mental health is crucial but its direct effect on children’s achievement may be smaller than often thought.

• Wechsler, Daniel L.; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ahmadzadeh, Yasmin I.; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Adamo, Nicoletta & Hannigan, Laurie [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2026). Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects on Child ADHD Traits in Early and Mid-Childhood: Trio Genome-Wide Complex Trait Analyses in a Large Norwegian Birth Registry Cohort. Behavior Genetics. ISSN 0001-8244. 56(4), p. 184–193. doi: 10.1007/s10519-026-10273-1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Genetic variants in family members may exert environmentally mediated indirect genetic effects on children’s attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits. We set out to quantify the indirect genetic effects of parents’ genotypes on children’s ADHD traits as measured in early and mid-childhood. We analyzed data from genotyped trios of children, mothers, and fathers of European ancestry from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) birth cohort. Child ADHD data were available for analytic subsamples of 12,374 trios at age 5 (children 50.5% male), and 12,714 trios at age 8 (children 50.9% male). We quantified direct genetic effects of children’s genotype and indirect effects of mothers’ and fathers’ genotypes on children’s ADHD traits at each age. Differing patterns of direct and indirect genetic effects were observed in early and mid-childhood, with predominantly maternal indirect genetic effects on ADHD traits at age 5, and roughly equal direct genetic effects and maternal indirect effects on ADHD traits at age 8. However, large standard errors hindered confident inference as to the relative importance of specific effects, and model fit comparisons ultimately favored models with no indirect genetic effects at age 5 and 8, as well as no direct genetic effects at age 5. We do not find clear evidence of indirect genetic effects of maternal or paternal genotype on child ADHD traits at ages 5 and 8, nor direct genetic effects on child ADHD traits at age 5. While previous findings of indirect genetic effects on ADHD subdomains at ages 3 and 8 broadly support the plausibility of indirect genetic effects operating on total ADHD scores at ages 5 and 8, it appears that indirect genetic effects on overall ADHD trait magnitude may be more difficult to estimate with precision than subdomain-specific effects.

• Chegeni, Razieh; Nes, Ragnhild Bang; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Ystrøm, Eivind & Røysamb, Espen (2026). Direct and indirect parental genetic effects on offspring susceptibility to internalizing problems across development. Nature Mental Health. 4, p. 754–765. doi: 10.1038/s44220-026-00619-3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Internalizing problems, including symptoms of anxiety and depression, are common in childhood and adolescence and are linked to adverse long-term outcomes. Although both child genetic variants and parental genetic influences contribute to these problems, the specific direct (child) and indirect (parental) genetic pathways involved remain unclear. We applied multi-polygenic score models using elastic net regression to identify key genetic predictors of depressive and anxiety symptoms at ages 8 and 14 in 9,314 parent–child trios from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study. We included 90 polygenic scores (PGSs) for the trio, along with their respective interaction terms. Predictive accuracy improved with age, with models explaining up to 2.7% of the variance in depression and 1.2% in anxiety. Key predictors included child attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, cognitive skills and well-being spectrum PGSs; maternal PGSs for smoking and cognitive skills; and paternal well-being spectrum PGSs. These findings underscore the value of incorporating diverse parental genetic traits to understand intergenerational risk transmission and developmental changes in child mental health.

• Trinh, Nhung; Rostami, Sina; Pedroncelli, Michele; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Magnus, Per Minor & Johansson, Stefan [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2026). Prenatal antidepressant use and longitudinal differences in BMI up to 8 years of age in the offspring born to mothers with depression/anxiety in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study. Journal of Affective Disorders. ISSN 0165-0327. 405. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2026.121552. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background: No study has explored how prenatal antidepressant exposure affects offspring body mass index (BMI) throughout childhood. Methods: We used data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) linked to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and the MoBa Genetics. We included 6084 pregnancy-child dyads (singleton, liveborn) with child BMI data up to 8 years, born to women with pre-pregnancy depression/anxiety. Prenatal antidepressant exposure groups include continued antidepressants in pregnancy (n = 626), discontinued antidepressants proximal to pregnancy (n = 412), or unexposed to antidepressants (n = 5046). Mean BMI differences over time between groups were calculated using multilevel mixed-effect linear models. Results: Children born to continuers had comparable childhood BMIs with those born to unexposed mothers or mothers who discontinued antidepressant, in overall and in both sexes. However, higher BMI was observed up to 3 years among male offspring of continued mothers compared to discontinuers in those exposed to selective-serotonin-reuptake-inhibitor before pregnancy (β = 0.334; 95% CI: 0.081 to 0.588 at baseline). Lower BMI was seen among female offspring born to continued vs. discontinued mothers with larger gap over time, especially between low-moderate use of antidepressant vs. discontinuation during pregnancy. Analyses integrating parental genetic liability for depression, BMI, and antidepressant response using polygenic risk scores in (n = 1913) suggests potential influence of the genetic component on the longitudinal differences in BMI in some strata. Conclusion: The childhood BMI of children born to mothers with pre-pregnancy depression/anxiety did not differ across prenatal antidepressant trajectories. Exploratory analyses revealed differences at specific timeframes which are sex-specific and potentially influenced by genetic liability profiles.

• Strom, Nora I.; Verhulst, Brad; Bacanu, Silviu Alin; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Purves, Kirstin L. & Gedik, Hüseyin [Show all 135 contributors for this article] (2026). Genome-wide association study of major anxiety disorders in 122,341 European-ancestry cases identifies 58 loci and highlights GABAergic signaling. Nature Genetics. ISSN 1061-4036. 58(2), p. 275–288. doi: 10.1038/s41588-025-02485-8. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The major anxiety disorders (ANX; including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and phobias) are highly prevalent, often onset early and cause substantial global disability. Although distinct in their clinical presentations, they probably represent differential expressions of a dysregulated threat–response system. Here, we present a genome-wide association meta-analysis comprising 122,341 European ancestry ANX cases and 729,881 controls. We identified 58 independent genome-wide significant risk variants and 66 genes with robust biological support. In an independent sample of 1,175,012 self-report ANX cases and 1,956,379 controls, 51 out of the 58 associations replicated. As predicted by twin studies, we found substantial genetic correlation between ANX and depression, neuroticism and other internalizing phenotypes. Follow-up analyses demonstrated enrichment in all major brain regions and highlighted GABAergic signaling as one potential mechanism implicated in ANX genetic risk. These results advance our understanding of the genetic architecture of ANX and prioritize genes for functional follow-up studies.

• Qin, Qi; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Eilertsen, Espen Moen & Ystrom, Eivind (2026). Children's psychological traits and educational performance: How schools and residential areas moderate how individual traits translate into academic outcomes. JCPP Advances. p. 1–15. doi: 10.1002/jcv2.70100. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Background The extent to which children's psychological traits influence their educational performance is thought to depend on the fit between the individual and their developmental context. However, this assumption has yet to be empirically tested on a population scale. This study examines how neurodevelopmental, mental health, and personality traits interact with latent environmental contexts to enhance, maintain, or mitigate their educational performance. Methods Using the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), we estimated the association between 16 developmental traits and grade point average (GPA) in 26,875 children across environmental contexts in 2131 primary schools, 1075 middle schools, ~14,000 neighborhoods, 1471 districts, and 347 municipalities. Results Across the developmental traits, the effect on GPA ranged from −0.286 to 0.220. However, these effects varied substantially across environmental contexts (SD 0.022 to 0.090). Trait‐by‐context interactions were detected in primary schools (2 traits), middle schools (6 traits), neigbourhoods (0 traits), districts (3 traits), and municipalities (1 trait), respectively. Moderation magnitudes were largest for neurodevelopmental traits in primary schools. On average, the effects of ADHD and communication difficulties were −0.252 and −0.193. However, these effects differed substantially across primary schools with SD 0.090 and 0.070, implying b  < −0.370 and b  < −0.282 in 10% of schools. For average children, primary schools explained 0.504% of middle school GPA. Similarly, the effect of depression and extraversion was dependent on middle‐school environments ( b  = −0.128; SD = 0.058 and b  = 0.024; SD = 0.022). Moreover, schools and districts with high GPAs tended to express lower detrimental effects on children's developmental traits. Conclusion Schools and residential areas function as educational catalysts, enhancing or mitigating the influence of developmental traits. High‐performing environments compensate for psychological challenges, whereas lower‐performing contexts exacerbate difficulties. Because the study integrated multiple traits and contextual levels, the analyses were exploratory and data‐driven, and the findings should be interpreted as hypothesis‐generating. These results suggest a need for both context‐sensitive and individually tailored educational interventions.

• Valstad, Mathias; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ayorech, Ziada; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Demange, Perline Aline Delle & Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2026). Indirect genetic effects of siblings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. ISSN 0021-9630. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.70130. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background Within-family designs are increasingly used to decompose genotype–trait associations into direct and indirect genetic effects. Many such designs, including trio designs or within-sibship designs, assume an absence of sibling indirect genetic effects. Methods We expand two well-known molecular genetic within-family designs, one variance component (genome-based restricted maximum likelihood) and one trait-based (structural equation modeling with polygenic indices), to estimate sibling indirect genetic effects, along with direct genetic effects. We link the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) to Norway's national education database to model genetic effects on national standardized testing results at ages 10, 13, and 14, and on parent-rated attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms at ages 3 and 8 in up to 15,971 genotyped and phenotyped siblings. Results Estimates of direct and indirect genetic effects from the genome-based restricted maximum likelihood and the structural equation modeling with polygenic indices approaches converge, albeit with the variance component estimates typically an order of magnitude greater than the trait-based estimates. We observe no indirect genetic effects of siblings on educational performance at any age, and only slightly negative indirect genetic effects of siblings on ADHD symptoms at age 3. We argue that the latter effect might reflect parental contrasting ratings. Conclusions The results suggest that within-family models of educational performance are unlikely to be drastically biased by an assumption of absent sibling indirect genetic effects. Combining trait-based analyses with variance component analyses can benefit understanding of indirect genetic effects, especially when the effects are not specific to a particular mechanism.

• Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman & Sunde, Hans Fredrik [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2026). Multivariate maternal effects across the internalizing–externalizing spectrum in childhood: results from the Norwegian mother, father, and child cohort study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. ISSN 0021-9630. p. 1–13. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.70111. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background From a functionalist perspective, parenting behaviors have adaptive functions and are partly expressions of genetic variation. Maternal genes that have effects on children are often referred to as indirect maternal genetic effects. Indirect genetic effects provide a means for measuring the role of parenting without the need for specifying the relevant parental behaviors. We studied indirect maternal genetic effects to address both the importance and commonality of parenting across the internalizing–externalizing spectrum of behavior problems in childhood. We further addressed how indirect genetic effects impact our understanding of direct genetic effects if not accounted for. Methods Utilizing data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), our analyses involved 42,423 children and their mothers. Both pedigree and genotype data were used to infer genetic relationships. We applied multivariate latent variable models to distinguish indirect maternal genetic effects and direct offspring genetic effects on seven measures of internalizing–externalizing behaviors. Results Our findings indicate significant maternal genetic influences, explaining 7%–18% of the variance across internalizing–externalizing behaviors. A general maternal effect common across behaviors could adequately account for most of the variability. The analyses further indicate that direct child genetic effects appear smaller and more complex when indirect maternal genetic effects are modeled simultaneously. Conclusions By summarizing the effects of parenting with indirect maternal genetic effects, we show a substantial contribution of parents with respect to internalizing–externalizing behaviors in childhood. Although parenting is multifaceted, the effects of parenting are general and can succinctly be described as a single common dimension. Further, our study demonstrates that direct genetic effects appear smaller and more complex when maternal genetic effects are accounted for, highlighting the confounding potential of parental effects in understanding the role of genetic differences in child psychopathology.

• Chegeni, Razieh; Nes, Ragnhild Bang; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada Ng'ombo Laurel; Ystrøm, Eivind & Røysamb, Espen (2026). Parental direct and indirect genetic effects on offsprings’ internalizing problems across development. Nature Mental Health. doi: https:/www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6862539/v1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Internalizing problems are common in youth and linked to adverse long-term outcomes. While both children’s own genetic variants (direct genetic effects) and the genetics of their parents (indirect genetic effects) contribute, the direct and indirect genetic traits involved remain unclear. Here, w...

• Tamnes, Christian K.; Bekkhus, Mona; Eilertsen, Maja; Nes, Ragnhild Bang; Prydz, Monica Beer & Ystrom, Eivind [Show all 63 contributors for this article] (2025). The nature of the relation between mental well-being and ill-being. Nature Human Behaviour. 9(12), p. 2431–2440. doi: 10.1038/s41562-025-02319-x. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Borgen, Nicolai T.; Sandsør, Astrid Marie Jorde & Hufe, Paul (2025). The Genetic Lottery Goes to School: Better Schools Compensate for the Effects of Students' Genetic Differences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). ISSN 0027-8424. 122(43). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2511715122. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we investigate whether better schools can compensate for the effects of children’s genetic differences. To this end, we combine data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) with Norwegian register data to estimate the interaction between measures of children’s predisposition to education and school quality. We use MoBa’s genetic data to compute polygenic indices for educational attainment (PGIEA). Importantly, MoBa includes genetic data on mother-father-child trios, allowing us to identify causal genetic effects using within-family variation. We calculate school value-added measures from Norwegian register data, allowing us to causally estimate school quality effects. Leveraging the advantages of both data sources, we provide a causally identified study of gene–environment interactions in the school context. We find evidence for substitutability of PGIEA and school quality in reading but not numeracy: A 1 SD increase of school quality decreases the impact of a 1 SD increase of PGIEA on reading test scores by 6%. The substitutability arises through gains of students at the lower end of the PGIEA distribution. This suggests that investments in school quality may help reduce educational inequalities arising from genetic differences between students.

• Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Hootegem, Arno Van & Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). The genetic and environmental composition of socioeconomic status in Norway. Nature Communications. 16(1). doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58961-6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Estimating the contributions of genetic and environmental factors is key to understanding differences in socioeconomic status (SES). However, the heritability of SES varies by measure, method, and context. Here, we estimate genetic and environmental sources of variance and commonality in the ‘big four’ SES indicators. We use high-quality administrative data on educational attainment, occupational prestige, income, and wealth, and employ four family-based and unrelated genotype-based heritability methods, all drawn from the same population-wide cohort of >170,000 Norwegians aged 35-45. By drawing subsamples from a consistent sample and using registry-based data, we reduce differences in estimates due to population characteristics and measurement error. Our results show that genetic variation consistently explains more for educational attainment and occupational prestige. Family-shared environmental contributions explained more for educational attainment and wealth. Our results highlight considerable common influences on the four SES indicators among genetic and shared environmental factors, but not among non-shared environmental factors. Overall, we show how the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors to SES differences in Norway varies by method and type of socioeconomic attainment. This study is a reliable source for comparing heritability methods, and for comparing SES indicators and their genetic and environmental commonality in a social-democratic welfare state.

• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Anapaz, Ville; Alten, Sjoerd van; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Porneso, Ralph Pascual Ortiz & Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2025). Genetic associations with educational fields. Nature Genetics. ISSN 1061-4036. 57, p. 2997–3006. doi: 10.1038/s41588-025-02391-z. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Educational field choices shape careers, wellbeing and the societal skill distribution, yet genetic influences on what people study remain poorly understood. Here we show that genetic factors are associated with educational field specializations using genome-wide association studies (GWASs) across 463,134 individuals from Finland, Norway and the Netherlands (effective n between 40,072 and 317,209). We identified 17 independent genome-wide significant variants linked to 7 of 10 educational fields, with average heritability of 7%. The genetic signal is specific to field choice rather than educational level, persisting after controlling for years of schooling and confounding factors. By examining genetic clustering across specializations, we uncovered two key dimensions: technical versus social and practical versus abstract. We performed GWASs of these components and demonstrated distinct genetic correlations with personality, behavior and socioeconomic status. Our findings demonstrate that genomic research can illuminate ‘horizontal’ stratification, revealing insights into vocational interests and social sorting beyond traditional attainment measures.

• Hegemann, Laura Elizabeth; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Pettersen, Johanne Hagen; Corfield, Elizabeth Claire; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Frach, Leonard [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2025). Direct and indirect genetic effects on early neurodevelopmental traits. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. ISSN 0021-9630. 66(7), p. 1053–1064. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.14122. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background Neurodevelopmental conditions are highly heritable. Recent studies have shown that genomic heritability estimates can be confounded by genetic effects mediated via the environment (indirect genetic effects). However, the relative importance of direct versus indirect genetic effects on early variability in traits related to neurodevelopmental conditions is unknown. Methods The sample included up to 24,692 parent-offspring trios from the Norwegian MoBa cohort. We use Trio-GCTA to estimate latent direct and indirect genetic effects on mother-reported neurodevelopmental traits at age of 3 years (restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests, inattention, hyperactivity, language, social, and motor development). Further, we investigate to what extent direct and indirect effects are attributable to common genetic variants associated with autism, ADHD, developmental dyslexia, educational attainment, and cognitive ability using polygenic scores (PGS) in regression modeling. Results We find evidence for contributions of direct and indirect latent common genetic effects to inattention (direct: explaining 4.8% of variance, indirect: 6.7%) hyperactivity (direct: 1.3%, indirect: 9.6%), and restricted and repetitive behaviors (direct: 0.8%, indirect: 7.3%). Direct effects best explained variation in social and communication, language, and motor development (5.1%–5.7%). Direct genetic effects on inattention were captured by PGS for ADHD, educational attainment, and cognitive ability, whereas direct genetic effects on language development were captured by cognitive ability, educational attainment, and autism PGS. Indirect genetic effects on neurodevelopmental traits were primarily captured by educational attainment and/or cognitive ability PGS. Conclusions Results were consistent with differential contributions to neurodevelopmental traits in early childhood from direct and indirect genetic effects. Indirect effects were particularly important for hyperactivity and restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests and may be linked to genetic variation associated with cognition and educational attainment. Our findings illustrate the importance of within-family methods for disentangling genetic processes that influence early neurodevelopmental traits, even when identifiable associations are small.

• Assary, Elham; Coleman, Jonathan R. I.; Hemani, Gibran; Weijer, Margot P. van de; Howe, Laurence J. & Palviainen, Teemu [Show all 81 contributors for this article] (2025). Genetics of monozygotic twins reveals the impact of environmental sensitivity on psychiatric and neurodevelopmental phenotypes. Nature Human Behaviour. 9, p. 1683–1696. doi: 10.1038/s41562-025-02193-7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Individual sensitivity to environmental exposures may be genetically influenced. This genotype-by-environment interplay implies differences in phenotypic variance across genotypes, but these variants have proven challenging to detect. Genome-wide association studies of monozygotic twin differences are conducted through family-based variance analyses, which are more robust to the systemic biases that impact population-based methods. We combined data from 21,792 monozygotic twins (10,896 pairs) from 11 studies to conduct one of the largest genome-wide association study meta-analyses of monozygotic phenotypic differences, in children, adolescents and adults separately, for seven psychiatric and neurodevelopmental phenotypes: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms, autistic traits, anxiety and depression symptoms, psychotic-like experiences, neuroticism and wellbeing. The proportions of phenotypic variance explained by single-nucleotide polymorphisms in these phenotypes were estimated (h2 = 0–18%), but were imprecise. We identified 13 genome-wide significant associations (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, genes and gene sets), including genes related to stress reactivity for depression, growth factor-related genes for autistic traits and catecholamine uptake-related genes for psychotic-like experiences. This is the largest genetic study of monozygotic twins to date by an order of magnitude, evidencing an alternative method to study the genetic architecture of environmental sensitivity. The statistical power was limited for some analyses, calling for better-powered future studies.

• Jørgensen, Ruth Eva; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Andreassen, Ole & Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde (2025). The Genetics of Partnership Dissolution. Sociological Science. 12, p. 76–96. doi: 10.15195/V12.A4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  There is a genetic component to divorce risk, but little is known about which and how genetically influenced traits are involved. This study makes three major contributions to address these gaps. First, we link genetic data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) to population register data and estimate the total influence of common genetic variants on partnership dissolution (N = 121, 408). Then, we identify heritable traits associated with partnership dissolution using event-history analysis and a broad set of polygenic indices. Finally, we assess whether associations are robust to controls for confounding in within-sibling models. Significant heritability estimates were found for both females (h2SNP = 0.09; SE = 0.01; p < 0.0001) and males (h2SNP = 0.03; SE = 0.01; p < 0.0001). Genetic dispositions for educational attainment and other sociodemographic factors decrease the probability of partnership dissolution, whereas dispositions for internalizing symptoms and risk behavior increase the likelihood of partnership dissolution. Integrating genetics and sociodemographic approaches can shed new light on the causes of partnership dynamics by helping us understand what drives the selection processes throughout the life course.

• Borgen, Nicolai Topstad; Zachrisson, Henrik Daae; Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Ystrøm, Eivind (2024). For whom neighborhoods matter: Heterogeneous effects of socioeconomic neighborhood composition on child achievement. SocArXiv. doi: 10.31235/osf.io/fst58. Full text in Research Archive
• Torvik, Fartein Ask; Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Keller, Matthew C. & Ystrøm, Eivind [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Non-random mating patterns within and across education and mental and somatic health. Nature Communications. 15(1). doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54966-9. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Partners resemble each other in health and education, but studies usually examine one trait at a time in established couples. Using data from all Norwegian first-time parents (N = 187,926) between 2016–2020, we analyse grade point average at age 16, educational attainment, and medical records of 10 mental and 10 somatic health conditions measured 10 to 5 years before childbirth. We find stronger partner similarity in mental (median r = 0.14) than in somatic health conditions (median r = 0.04), with ubiquitous cross-trait correlations in mental health (median r = 0.13). High grade point average or education is associated with better partner mental (median r = −0.16) and somatic (median r = −0.08) health. Elevated mental health correlations (median r = 0.25) in established couples indicate convergence. Analyses of siblings and in-laws suggest that health similarity is influenced by indirect assortment based on related traits. Adjusting for grade point average or education reduces partner health correlations by 30–40%. These findings have implications for the distribution of risk factors among children, genetic studies, and intergenerational transmission.

• Consortium, PGC ANX & Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2024). Genome-wide association study of major anxiety disorders in 122,341 European-ancestry cases identifies 58 loci and highlights GABAergic signaling. medRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2024.07.03.24309466. Full text in Research Archive
• Zhou, Quan; Gidziela, Agnieszka; Allegrini, Andrea G.; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Wertz, Jasmin & Maxwell, Jessye [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2024). Gene-environment correlation: the role of family environment in academic development. Molecular Psychiatry. ISSN 1359-4184. doi: 10.1038/s41380-024-02716-0. Full text in Research Archive
• Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ayorech, Ziada; Cheesman, Rosa; Ahmadzadeh, Yasmin I. & Baldwin, Jessie R. [Show all 13 contributors for this article] (2024). Disentangling direct and indirect genetic effects from partners and offspring on maternal depression using trio-GCTA. Nature Mental Health. 2(4), p. 417–425. doi: 10.1038/s44220-024-00207-3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Maternal depressive symptoms are highly prevalent and can negatively impact affected individuals and family members. Understanding etiological influences on maternal depression, such as genetic liability, is key to inform treatment and prevention efforts. Here we quantified direct and indirect genetic effects (that is, when genetic variants in other individuals influence risk of maternal depression through the environment) from partners and offspring on maternal depressive symptoms at multiple time points using genome-wide complex trait analysis with parent–offspring trios. We used data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child cohort study, including up to 21,000 genotyped parent–offspring trios. Models with indirect genetic effects had best fit at three out of five time points (3, 5 and 8 years after birth). The variance in maternal depressive symptoms explained by direct genetic effects ranged from 5% to 14%, whereas indirect genetic effects explained 0–14% of variance across time points. Heritable traits in family members contribute to maternal depressive symptoms through the environment at several time points after birth.

• Malanchini, Margherita; Allegrini, Andrea G.; Nivard, Michel G.; Biroli, Pietro; Rimfeld, Kaili & Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2024). Genetic associations between non-cognitive skills and academic achievement over development. Nature Human Behaviour. doi: 10.1038/s41562-024-01967-9. Full text in Research Archive
• Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Cheesman, Rosa; Corfield, Elizabeth C.; Kleppestø, Thomas H. & Seierstad, Anne Caroline [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2024). Genetic similarity between relatives provides evidence on the presence and history of assortative mating. Nature Communications. 15(1). doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46939-9. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Assortative mating – the non-random mating of individuals with similar traits – is known to increase trait-specific genetic variance and genetic similarity between relatives. However, empirical evidence is limited for many traits, and the implications hinge on whether assortative mating has started recently or many generations ago. Here we show theoretically and empirically that genetic similarity between relatives can provide evidence on the presence and history of assortative mating. First, we employed path analysis to understand how assortative mating affects genetic similarity between family members across generations, finding that similarity between distant relatives is more affected than close relatives. Next, we correlated polygenic indices of 47,135 co-parents from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) and found genetic evidence of assortative mating in nine out of sixteen examined traits. The same traits showed elevated similarity between relatives, especially distant relatives. Six of the nine traits, including educational attainment, showed greater genetic variance among offspring, which is inconsistent with stable assortative mating over many generations. These results suggest an ongoing increase in familial similarity for these traits. The implications of this research extend to genetic methodology and the understanding of social and economic disparities.

• Rietz, Ebba Du; Xie, Tian; Wang, Rujia; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Garcia-Argibay, Miguel & Dong, Zihan [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2024). The contribution of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder polygenic load to metabolic and cardiovascular health outcomes: a large-scale population and sibling study. Translational Psychiatry. 14(1). doi: 10.1038/s41398-024-03178-2. Full text in Research Archive
• Ayorech, Ziada; Torvik, Fartein Ask; Cheesman, Rosa; Eilertsen, Espen M.; Valstad, Mathias & Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2024). The structure of psychiatric comorbidity without selection and assortative mating. Translational Psychiatry. 14(1), p. 1–9. doi: 10.1038/s41398-024-02768-4. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadzadeh, Y. I.; Eilertsen, E. M.; Cheesman, R.; Rayner, C.; Ystrom, E. & Hannigan, L. J. [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2023). Mothers' symptoms of anxiety and depression and the development of child temperament: A genetically informative, longitudinal investigation. JCPP Advances. 3(4), p. 1–12. doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12171. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background Child temperament traits and mothers' emotional symptoms relating to anxiety and depression may drive changes in one another, leading to their ‘co-development’ across time. Alternatively, links between mother and child traits may be attributable to shared genetic propensities. We explored longitudinal associations between mothers' emotional symptoms and child temperament traits and adjusted for genetic effects shared across generations. Methods This study is based on the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Mothers (n = 34,060) reported on their symptoms of anxiety and depression, and temperament among offspring (n = 42,526), at child ages 1.5, 3 and 5 years. Structural equation models parameterised developmental change in traits, and an extended family design adjusted for genetic effects. Results We found individual differences in stable trait scores and rate of change for all study variables. Longitudinal stability in mothers' emotional symptoms was associated with longitudinal stability in offspring emotionality (r = 0.143), shyness (r = 0.031), and sociability (r = −0.015). Longitudinal change in mothers' symptoms showed very small or negligible correlations with longitudinal change in child temperament. Both genetic and environmental influences explained the stable longitudinal association between mothers' symptoms and child emotionality. Conclusions The studied associations between mother and child traits across time appeared to be due to stable, trait-like factors, involving genetic and environmental influence, rather than their co-development. Findings contribute knowledge on how emotional symptoms develop in families across time, and the methods with which we can explore such development.

• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Eilertsen, Espen Moen & Ystrøm, Eivind (2023). Why we need families in genomic research on developmental psychopathology. JCPP Advances. 3(1). doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12138. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background Fundamental questions about the roles of genes, environments, and their interplay in developmental psychopathology have traditionally been the domain of twin and family studies. More recently, the rapidly growing availability of large genomic datasets, composed of unrelated individuals, has generated novel insights. However, there are major stumbling blocks. Only a small fraction of the total genetic influence on childhood psychopathology estimated from family data is captured with measured DNA. Moreover, genetic influence identified using DNA is often confounded with indirect genetic effects of relatives, population stratification and assortative mating. Methods The goal of this paper is to review how combining DNA-based genomic research with family-based quantitative genetics helps to address key issues in genomics and push knowledge further. Results We focus on three approaches to obtaining more accurate and novel genomic findings on the developmental aetiology of psychopathology: (a) using knowledge from twin and family studies, (b) triangulating with twin and family studies, and (c) integrating data and methods with twin and family studies. Conclusion We support the movement towards family-based genomic research, and show that developmental psychologists are particularly well-placed to contribute hypotheses, analysis tools, and data.

• Howe, Laurence J; Rasheed, Humaira; Jones, Paul Remy; Boomsma, Dorret I; Evans, David M & Giannelis, Alexandros [Show all 45 contributors for this article] (2023). Educational attainment, health outcomes and mortality: a within-sibship Mendelian randomization study. International Journal of Epidemiology. ISSN 0300-5771. 52(5), p. 1579–1591. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyad079. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background Previous Mendelian randomization (MR) studies using population samples (population MR) have provided evidence for beneficial effects of educational attainment on health outcomes in adulthood. However, estimates from these studies may have been susceptible to bias from population stratification, assortative mating and indirect genetic effects due to unadjusted parental genotypes. MR using genetic association estimates derived from within-sibship models (within-sibship MR) can avoid these potential biases because genetic differences between siblings are due to random segregation at meiosis. Methods Applying both population and within-sibship MR, we estimated the effects of genetic liability to educational attainment on body mass index (BMI), cigarette smoking, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and all-cause mortality. MR analyses used individual-level data on 72 932 siblings from UK Biobank and the Norwegian HUNT study, and summary-level data from a within-sibship Genome-wide Association Study including >140 000 individuals. Results Both population and within-sibship MR estimates provided evidence that educational attainment decreased BMI, cigarette smoking and SBP. Genetic variant–outcome associations attenuated in the within-sibship model, but genetic variant–educational attainment associations also attenuated to a similar extent. Thus, within-sibship and population MR estimates were largely consistent. The within-sibship MR estimate of education on mortality was imprecise but consistent with a putative effect. Conclusions These results provide evidence of beneficial individual-level effects of education (or liability to education) on adulthood health, independently of potential demographic and family-level confounders.

• Yu, Baeksan; Zachrisson, Henrik Daae; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ystrøm, Eivind & Nes, Ragnhild Bang (2023). Boys with overweight status lagged behind girls with overweight status in reading: evidence from mendelian randomization. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. ISSN 0895-4356. 159, p. 199–205. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2023.05.001. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Objectives We investigated the relationship between childhood weight status and academic achievement across sexes and different school subjects in Norway. Study Design and Setting We used data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), which includes genetic data (N = 13,648, 8-year-old children). We employed within-family mendelian randomization, using a body mass index (BMI) polygenic risk score as an instrument to address unobserved heterogeneity. Results Contrary to most previous findings, we observed that overweight status (including obesity) has more detrimental effects on reading achievement in boys than in girls; the test scores of boys with overweight were about a standard deviation lower than those of normal weight boys, and the negative effects on reading achievement became stronger in the later grade. Conclusion Previous obesity prevention studies have mainly targeted girls, based on the assumption that the obesity penalty is greater for girls. Our findings highlight that particular attention to boys with overweight may help reduce the existing gender gap in academic achievement.

• Gjerde, Line Cecilie; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; McAdams, Tom A.; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Moffitt, Terrie & Caspi, Avshalom [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2023). The p factor of psychopathology and personality in middle childhood: genetic and gestational risk factors. Psychological Medicine. ISSN 0033-2917. 53(9), p. 4275–4285. doi: 10.1017/S0033291723000077. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background A joint, hierarchical structure of psychopathology and personality has been reported in adults but should also be investigated at earlier ages, as psychopathology often develops before adulthood. Here, we investigate the joint factor structure of psychopathology and personality in eight-year-old children, estimate factor heritability and explore external validity through associations with established developmental risk factors. Methods Phenotypic and biometric exploratory factor analyses with bifactor rotation on genetically informative data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort (MoBa) study. The analytic sub-sample comprised 10 739 children (49% girls). Mothers reported their children's symptoms of depression (Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire), anxiety (Screen for Anxiety Related Disorders), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattention and hyperactivity, oppositional-defiant disorder, conduct disorder (Parent/Teacher Rating Scale for Disruptive Behavior Disorders), and Big Five personality (short Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children). Developmental risk factors (early gestational age and being small for gestational age) were collected from the Medical Birth Registry. Results Goodness-of-fit indices favored a p factor model with three residual latent factors interpreted as negative affectivity, positive affectivity, and antagonism, whereas psychometric indices favored a one-factor model. ADE solutions fitted best, and regression analyses indicated a negative association between gestational age and the p factor, for both the one- and four-factor solutions. Conclusion Correlations between normative and pathological traits in middle childhood mostly reflect one heritable and psychometrically interpretable p factor, although optimal fit to data required less interpretable residual latent factors. The association between the p factor and low gestational age warrants further study of early developmental mechanisms.

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• Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Akingbuwa, Wonuola; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Ystrom, Eivind (2026). A Genomic Test of Goodness-of-Fit: Using Personality Polygenic Indices to Model Parent–Child Fit during Development. Full text in Research Archive
• Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Akingbuwa, Wonuola & Ystrom, Eivind (2026). A Genomic Test of Goodness-of-Fit: Using Personality Polygenic Indices to Model Parent–Child Fit. Full text in Research Archive
• Ofstad, Sverre Berg; Peng, Qiyuan; Ebeltoft, Joakim; Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; Rayner, Christopher & Ayorech, Ziada [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2026). PGI-by-Environment interactions: practical guidelines for robust research. Full text in Research Archive
• Ystrom, Eivind; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; McAdams, Thomas Andrew; Eilertsen, Espen Moen & Timpe, Clara Marie Fides [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2026). Child Personality Polygenic Indices and Parental Distress: Evidence of Active Gene-Environment Correlations and Interactions from Parent–Offspring Trios. doi: https:/osf.io/fwaqp/overview. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Child temperament and personality are conjectured to affect parental distress, and there are findings supporting such transactions. Yet, to date, there is no evidence for such evocative gene-environment correlations using exogenous within-family offspring genetic variation. Using 30 000 parent–offspring genotyped trios from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort (MoBa), we test how child personality polygenic indexes (PGIs) independently affect maternal and paternal mental distress across the life course (age 16-60). The second longstanding hypothesis is that such child-to-parent transactions are non-additive due to gene-environment interactions. We will reveal the scope of this by estimating the expansion of within-person-timepoint parental mental distress over child personality PGIs. The third longstanding hypothesis is that the evocative effect is dependent on the parental personality, or the “goodness-of-fit”. We will examine moderation by parental Big Five PGIs to test if the effect of a child’s personality on parent depression depends on the parent’s own personality predispositions. This genetically controlled approach provides a novel and robust test of child- evoked effects across the life course. Results for both mothers and fathers will be presented, highlighting the power of child PGIs as a new tool to reveal intergenerational influences on parental mental distress.

• Ystrom, Eivind; Ayorech, Ziada; Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; Timpe, Clara Marie Fides; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Eilertsen, Espen Moen [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2026). Child Personality Polygenic Indices and Parental Distress: Evidence of Active Gene- Environment Correlations and Interactions from Parent–Offspring Trios. doi: https:/bga.org/docs.ashx?id=1781704. Full text in Research Archive
• Qin, Qi; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Ystrom, Eivind (2026). How Schools and Neighborhoods Shape the Translation of Polygenic Personality Indices into Academic Outcomes. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Big Five personality traits are robust predictors of individual differences in academic outcomes, yet the mechanisms through which they shape the outcomes remain unclear. Building on our prior work showing contextual moderation of non-cognitive polygenic indices (PGI), we hypothesize that personality traits likewise do not exert uniform influences across contexts. Instead, their effects on academic outcomes emerge through dynamic interactions with the social and economic environments in which individuals develop. Recent GWAS on Big Five personality traits enable the construction of PGIs that quantify the individual-level genetic propensities, and are largely independent of the environment and minimize reverse causality. Using data from ~32,000 trios in the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) linked to national school and residential registries, we apply multilevel models to investigate how personality-related PGIs contribute to students’ grade point average (GPA), and how these associations vary across latent school and neighborhood contexts. We further test the extent to which the measured socioeconomic status aggregates at the school and neighborhood level interact with individual liability in personality traits. This work aims to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding how individual propensities for personality become developmentally expressed into academic outcomes within real-world contextual ecologies.

• Peng, Qiyuan; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Ystrom, Eivind; Zachrisson, Henrik Daae; Havdahl, Alexandra & Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2026). Does Universal Childcare Affect Early Child Development? Full text in Research Archive
• Pettersen, Johanne Hagen; Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; Hannigan, Laurie John; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Davies, Neil Martin & Andreassen, Ole [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2026). Understanding the Rise in ADHD Diagnoses: Insights from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study. Full text in Research Archive
• Pettersen, Johanne Hagen; Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; Sanchez, Alejandra Martinez; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Bishop, Somer & Bjuland, Knut Jørgen [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2026). Exploring potential drivers of rising autism diagnoses in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Full text in Research Archive
• Hegemann, Laura Elizabeth; Wotton, Olivia; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Malawsky, Daniel; Huang, Qin Qin & Bazezew, Meseret Mamo [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2025). Dissecting the intergenerational transmission of common genetic variants in developmental disabilities and early developmental traits. Full text in Research Archive
• Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ayorech, Ziada Ng'ombo Laurel; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Ystrøm, Eivind (2025). Et mangfold av ulikhet: Fra økonomi til gener. Full text in Research Archive
• Ofstad, Sverre Berg; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Torvik, Fartein Ask; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Qin, Qi & Ystrøm, Eivind (2025). Using within-family polygenic indexes to examine sex-specific gene-environment interaction on GPA. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Zachrisson, Henrik Daae & Bailey, Drew (2025). Gene-environment interplay and childcare decisions. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2025). Sociogenomics keynote, The Winter School on Inequality and Social Welfare Theory. Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Rietveld, Cornelius A. (Niels); Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ystrøm, Eivind & Havdahl, Alexandra (2025). Causal Intergenerational Transmission of Education in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Rietveld, Cornelius A. (Niels); Ystrøm, Eivind & Havdahl, Alexandra (2025). Parental Influence on Children's Educational Achievements: Analysing Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects through Trio-GCTA. doi: https:/www.sv.uio.no/psi/english/research/news-and-events/events/conferences/2025/genetics-and-social-sciences-conference--2025.html. Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Pettersen, Johanne Hagen; Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Rietveld, Cornelius A. (Niels); Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Demange, Perline Aline Delle [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2025). Intergenerational Transmission of Education in Norway: A Triangulation Approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Pettersen, Johanne Hagen; Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Rietveld, Cornelius A. (Niels); Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Demange, Perline Aline Delle [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2025). Intergenerational Transmission of Education in Norway: A Triangulation Approach. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The intergenerational transmission of education is a critical topic in social science. Substantial empirical evidence shows that children of highly educated parents often achieve higher levels of academic success than those of less-educated parents (Blanden et al., 2024; Björklund and Salvanes, 2011). Both environmental and genetic factors contribute to the association between parental and offspring educational attainment. However, existing empirical research often conflates these effects due to methodological differences and data limitations, making the results challenging to interpret and sometimes yielding conflicting conclusions (Atav et al., 2024). These limitations restrict insights to intergenerational correlations rather than establishing causal effects. Our study addresses this gap by employing a triangulation approach, integrating multiple methods with distinct strengths and biases to examine whether parental education causally impacts offspring’s educational achievement. Specifically, by leveraging parent-child trios’ register data from Statistics Norway and genetic data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), we apply multivariable regression analysis, entropy balancing, adoption design, and within-family Mendelian randomization to explore the causal relationship between parental educational attainment and offspring’s educational achievement (grade point average, GPA) in Norway. Our preliminary findings suggest a causal effect of parental educational attainment on offspring’s academic success during adolescence, with variations between maternal and paternal influences and differential effects by offspring sex. By isolating genetic confounders, this study enhances our understanding of the causal pathways in intergenerational educational transmission, offering valuable insights for addressing educational inequalities.

• Ayorech, Ziada Ng'ombo Laurel; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Valstad, Mathias & Ystrøm, Eivind (2025). How the importance of family history and gender for receiving a depression diagnosis varies over GP’s. Full text in Research Archive
• Ayorech, Ziada Ng'ombo Laurel; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Eilertsen, Espen Moen & Ystrøm, Eivind (2025). Leveraging family-based data reveals gene-environment interplay in life course depression. Full text in Research Archive
• Ofstad, Sverre Berg; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Qin, Qi; Torvik, Fartein Ask & Ystrøm, Eivind (2025). from DNA to GPA: a genetically informed study of the male disadvantage in schools. Full text in Research Archive
• Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada Ng'ombo Laurel & Ystrøm, Eivind (2024). Parent SES and young people's mental health. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ayorech, Ziada Ng'ombo Laurel; Ystrøm, Eivind; Hootegem, Arno Van & Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde (2024). Parent SES and offspring mental health. Full text in Research Archive
• Ayorech, Ziada Ng'ombo Laurel; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Valstad, Mathias & Ystrøm, Eivind (2024). GEOGRAPHICAL STRATIFICATION IN RECEIVING A DEPRESSION DIAGNOSIS IN THE NORWEGIAN POPULATION. doi: https:/www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924977X24005455. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background Depression runs in families, has a striking female preponderance, and in 2030 is predicted to be the leading cause of disease burden worldwide. Receiving a depression diagnosis is critical for access to appropriate treatment to alleviate the debilitating symptoms associated with this common disorder. Evidence that patient characteristics can contribute to who receives a diagnosis is well documented, however the extent to which GP tendencies for diagnosing depression are geographically stratified is unknown, in part due to the sparsity of large scale diagnostic data in population cohorts. Methods Here we capitalize on registry data for ∼ 5 million Norwegian adults including all ICPC2 depression codes, GP, clinic and residential identifiers. Multilevel models are used to test whether the role of familial risk (i.e., affected siblings) in predicting diagnosis varies as a function of geographical location and GP characteristics. In addition we test whether GP diagnosing varies by patients genetic risk and self-report symptoms by adding depression polygenic scores and symptom checklist data for a subset of the population (200,000 genotyped participants in the Norwegian Mother Father and Child study (Moba)) to our models. Results We provide descriptions of depression clusters across the entire Norwegian country and critical insight into the path from symptoms to diagnosis. Crucially, this novel approach informs on whether provider leniency impacts the genetic signal captured in large scale genome-wide association studies of depression. Discussion These results will have implications for academics, clinicians and the more than 300 million individuals and their families suffering from depression worldwide.

• Qin, Qi; Ystrøm, Eivind; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ofstad, Sverre Berg; Ayorech, Ziada & Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2024). School-level Moderation of Multiple Within- Family Polygenic Index Effects on Educational Performance in MoBa (n=27476 Trios). Full text in Research Archive
• Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Corfield, Elizabeth Claire; Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau & Seierstad, Anne Caroline [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2024). Genetic similarity between relatives provides evidence on the presence and history of assortative mating. Full text in Research Archive
• Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman & Sunde, Hans Fredrik [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2024). Multivariate parental effects across the internalizing-externalizing spectrum in childhood: results from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2024). Genes don’t define your destiny in education. BOLD. Full text in Research Archive
• Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Hootegem, Arno Van & Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Triangulating Approaches to Evaluate the Genetic and Environmental Composition of Socioeconomic Status. Full text in Research Archive
• Ystrøm, Eivind; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Hootegem, Arno Van; Ghirardi, Gaia; Ofstad, Sverre Berg & Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman (2024). Roads less traveled in social science genetics. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2024). Genetics and school inequalities. Full text in Research Archive
• Ystrøm, Eivind; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada & Demange, Perline Aline Delle (2024). The dark matter of parenting – estimating the environmental importance of family members using genetics. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Anapaz, Ville; Alten, Sjoerd van; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman & Porneso, Ralph Pascual Ortiz [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2024). The Genetics of Educational Fields. Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ystrøm, Eivind & Havdahl, Alexandra (2024). Causal Intergenerational Transmission of Education: How Do Parents Affect Children’s Educational Achievement? Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Ystrøm, Eivind & Havdahl, Alexandra (2024). Parental Influence on Children's Educational Achievements: Analyzing Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects through Trio-GCTA. Full text in Research Archive
• Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Hootegem, Arno Van & Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Parent SES and young people's mental health: Doctoral project. Full text in Research Archive
• Qin, Qi; Ystrøm, Eivind; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ofstad, Sverre Berg; Ayorech, Ziada & Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2024). School-level Moderation of Multiple Within- Family Polygenic Index Effects on Educational Performance in MoBa (n=27476 Trios). Full text in Research Archive
• Chegeni, Razieh; Nes, Ragnhild Bang; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Ystrøm, Eivind & Røysamb, Espen (2024). Surrounded by genes: Parental genetic effects on children’s mental health. Full text in Research Archive
• Valstad, Mathias; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Demange, Perline Aline Delle & Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2024). Indirect genetic effects of siblings. Full text in Research Archive
• Chegeni, Razieh; Nes, Ragnhild Bang; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Ystrøm, Eivind & Røysamb, Espen (2024). Intergenerational transmission of internalizing behaviors: a multipolygenic score approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Ystrøm, Eivind & Havdahl, Alexandra (2024). Parental Influence on Children's Educational Achievements: Analyzing Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects through Trio-GCTA. Full text in Research Archive
• Ofstad, Sverre Berg; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Qin, Qi & Ystrøm, Eivind (2024). Nature Meets Schooling: Why Boys Fall Behind in GPA Despite Equal Genetic Potential (ESSGN). Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Ystrøm, Eivind & Havdahl, Alexandra (2024). Parental Influence on Children's Educational Achievements: Analyzing Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects through Trio-GCTA. Full text in Research Archive
• Hegemann, Laura; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Pettersen, Johanne Hagen; Corfield, Elizabeth Claire; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Frach, Leonard [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2024). Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects on Early Neurodevelopmental Traits (updated results). Full text in Research Archive
• Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Hootegem, Arno Van & Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Triangulating Approaches to Evaluate the Genetic and Environmental Composition of Socioeconomic Status: Multi-method study. Full text in Research Archive
• Ofstad, Sverre Berg; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Qin, Qi & Ystrøm, Eivind (2024). Sex-specific gene x school interactions found by using within-family polygenic score and twin modelling. Full text in Research Archive
• Ofstad, Sverre Berg; Demange, Perline Aline Delle; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Qin, Qi & Ystrøm, Eivind (2024). Nature Meets Schooling: Why Boys Fall Behind in GPA Despite Equal Genetic Potential. Full text in Research Archive
• Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Hootegem, Arno Van & Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Genetic and environmental composition of SES. Full text in Research Archive
• Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Hootegem, Arno Van & Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Doctoral project: Socioeconomic status and young people's mental health. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadzadeh, Yasmin I.; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ystrøm, Eivind & McAdams, Tom A. (2023). Are mothers’ prenatal emotional symptoms influenced by the foetal genome? Exploring the possibility of child-to- parent effects during pregnancy. Full text in Research Archive
• Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Corfield, Elizabeth Claire; Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau & Seierstad, Anne Caroline [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2023). Genetic similarity between relatives provides evidence on the presence and history of assortative mating. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Eilertsen, Espen Moen & Ystrøm, Eivind (2023). School-level Moderation of Multiple Within- Family Polygenic Index Effects on Educational Performance in MoBa (n=27476 Trios). Full text in Research Archive
• Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Corfield, Elizabeth Claire; Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau & Seierstad, Anne Caroline [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2023). Assortative mating strongly increases genetic similarity between distant relatives. Full text in Research Archive
• Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Corfield, Elizabeth Claire; Kleppestø, Thomas Haarklau & Seierstad, Anne Caroline [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2023). Assortative mating increases genetic similarity among distant relatives: evidence from polygenic scores. Full text in Research Archive
• Hegemann, Laura; Corfield, Elizabeth Claire; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ask, Helga & Hannigan, Laurie John [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2023). Indirect and Direct Genetic Effects in Early Neurodevelopmental Traits. Full text in Research Archive
• Torvik, Fartein Ask; Sunde, Hans Fredrik; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Eftedal, Nikolai Haahjem; Ystrøm, Eivind & Eilertsen, Espen Moen (2023). Within- and cross-trait assortative mating for educational attainment and mental and somatic health conditions: a total population study. Full text in Research Archive
• Ebeltoft, Joakim Coleman; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ayorech, Ziada; Qin, Qi & Ystrøm, Eivind (2023). The inheritance of inequality: Comparing heritability estimates of socioeconomic status. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2023). Deconstructing the nature of nurture. Full text in Research Archive
• Ayorech, Ziada; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Havdahl, Alexandra & Ystrøm, Eivind (2023). Family-based approaches to gene-environment interplay. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ystrom, Eivind; Ayorech, Ziada; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ystrøm, Eivind & Ayorech, Ziada (2023). The Anatomy of Educational Fields. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Ystrom, Eivind; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Ayorech, Ziada & Ystrøm, Eivind (2023). The anatomy of educational fields. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2023). Noen skoler utjevner genetiske forskjeller bedre enn andre. [Journal]. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  https://www.morgenbladet.no/aktuelt/2023/07/03/noen-skoler-utjevner-genetiske-forskjeller-bedre-enn-andre/

• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2023). Gode skoler veier opp for genetiske forskjeller mellom barn. [Internet]. Forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Ayorech, Ziada; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Havdahl, Alexandra & Ystrøm, Eivind (2023). The genetics of depression across the childbearing years. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2023). Keynote: Family-based genomics and gene-environment interplay. Full text in Research Archive
• Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie (2023). Why we need families in genomic research. [Internet]. ACAMH podcast. Full text in Research Archive
• Gjerde, Line Cecilie; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; McAdams, Tom A.; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Moffitt, Terrie & Caspi, Avshalom [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2023). Erratum: The p factor of psychopathology and personality in middle childhood: Genetic and gestational risk factors (Psychological Medicine (2023) DOI: 10.1017/S0033291723000077). Psychological Medicine. ISSN 0033-2917. doi: 10.1017/S0033291723000879. Full text in Research Archive
• Peng, Qiyuan; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Ystrom, Eivind & Havdahl, Alexandra (2025). Parental Influence on Children’s Educational Achievements: Analysing Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects through Trio-GCTA. bioRxiv. doi: https:/www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.03.691991v1.article-info. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Educational achievement is a key predictor of later-life outcomes, including financial security, social mobility, health, and mortality. Knowing its familial determinants, such as genetic predispositions, is crucial for understanding intergenerational educational mobility and addressing educational inequality. Here, we disentangle direct and indirect genetic effects on educational achievement using trio genome-wide complex trait analysis (Trio-GCTA). Leveraging up to 23,200 genotyped parent–offspring trios from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), we find that direct genetic effects explain 15-21% of the variance in educational achievements, including 8th-grade national assessments in Math, Reading, and English, and 10th-grade grade point average (GPA). Notably, indirect genetic effects additionally explain 7-15% of the variance. Both mothers and fathers exert notable influences, exceeding those suggested in previous studies. Moreover, positive gene–environment correlations between parents and offspring show that the intrafamilial environment and children’s genetic predisposition are dependent and mutually reinforcing.

• Hegemann, Laura; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Pettersen, Johanne Hagen; Corfield, Elizabeth Claire; Cheesman, Rosa Catherine Gillespie & Frach, Leonard [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2025). Direct and Indirect Genetic Effects on Early Neurodevelopmental Traits (preprint). MedRxiv. Full text in Research Archive

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