Fartein Ask Torvik's Avatar

Fartein Ask Torvik

@torvik.bsky.social

Mental health and behaviour genetics. Senior researcher/associate professor at Norwegian Institute of Public Health & University of Oslo

552 Followers  |  457 Following  |  19 Posts  |  Joined: 29.10.2023  |  1.9171

Latest posts by torvik.bsky.social on Bluesky

Preview
<em>Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry</em> | ACAMH Pediatric Journal | Wiley Online Library 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 refer...

Article alert!๐Ÿšจ
1/11 Parents matter - and we can quantify part of that influence genetically. Our new JCPP paper on multivariate indirect maternal genetic effects across internalizing and externalizing symptoms. doi.org/10.1111/jcpp...
#jcpp @uio.no @unioslo-svfak.bsky.social @unioslo-uv.bsky.social

04.02.2026 20:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 20    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Negative Associations Between Early and Adult Performance Arise from Colider Selection Bias Gรผllich et al. argue that among elite performers there is a negative associationbetween early and adult performance, a pattern they link to distinct developmentalcausal mechanisms for early, and adult...

I drafted a letter to the editor, please help me out by DMing, commenting, emailing feedback if you are an expert on colliderbias, id obviosuly ad you as a author, Ideally we submit within 24-48 hrs, draft: zenodo.org/records/1800... (click download if the pdf doesnt preview on zenodo)

20.12.2025 18:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 69    ๐Ÿ” 22    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 9    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

This smells distinctly like collider bias and/or selection bias and/or regression to the mean... You simply can't select teen prodigies, and world class athletes rom databases, and go run regressions without serious consideration of the selection process!

20.12.2025 15:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 340    ๐Ÿ” 69    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 23    ๐Ÿ“Œ 13
Preview
Mapping the genetic landscape across 14 psychiatric disorders - Nature Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders...

1/4 Thrilled to be sharing new work published today in Nature describing the third wave of results from the PGC Cross-Disorder Group. This reflects a massive group effort to examine shared and unique genetic signal across >1 million cases for 14 psychiatric disorders. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

10.12.2025 16:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 120    ๐Ÿ” 52    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 7
Preview
Two positions as either PhD or postdoctoral fellow on health determinants of education Do you want to research how health influences school performance and leads to intergenerational inequality? We have two vacant 3-year positions as a PhD fellow or postdoctoral research fellow in the p...

Who wants to join us in Oslo to study how health influences educational underperformance? We are hiring PhDs postdocs candidates for our funded project. We will follow children from birth to emerging adulthood, using behavioural genetic methods and large datasets 945000.webcruiter.no/Main/Recruit...

05.12.2025 08:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 10    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Key insights (2/2)
โ€ข 10 years later, employed grandmothers are 12% less likely to work full-time, compared to a 2% reduction for grandfathers. Women also see larger income drops.
โ€ข The gendered patterns in infections + employment suggest women still are more involved in informal childcare provision.

20.11.2025 15:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Key insights (1/2)
โ€ข Respiratory infections jump in the first years of grandparenthood: +56% for women, +31% for men
โ€ข Grandparents are slightly less likely to see a doctor for mental disorders (โˆ’4.5%) & cardiovascular issues (โˆ’3.3%)
โ€ข Grandmothers have fewer musculoskeletal-related visits (โˆ’3.8%)

20.11.2025 15:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Figure showing event-study plots centred around the birth of one's first grandchild. The left plot shows health changes, the right shows labour market changes (separated by grandparent gender).

Figure showing event-study plots centred around the birth of one's first grandchild. The left plot shows health changes, the right shows labour market changes (separated by grandparent gender).

The image shows the following abstract: 

The Cost of Caring: Gendered Health and Labour Market Effects of Grandparenthood

While the effects of the transition to parenthood are well-researched, less is known about how the transition to grandparenthood affects health and labour market outcomes. Using comprehensive Norwegian register data covering the entire population born between 1950 and 1960, we examine the effects of first-born grandchildren born during 2007โ€“2018. Employing event-study models with person-year records, we compare grandparents to not-yet grandparents. Our findings reveal a sharp increase in the likelihood of respiratory infections during the first two years of grandparenthood, with infections increasing by 56% for women and 31% for men. Additionally, grandparenthood modestly reduces the likelihood of doctorโ€™s visits related to mental disorders (4.5%) and cardiovascular health (3.3%). Grandmothers also see a decline in musculoskeletal-related visits (3.8%). These health-related changes coincide with notable gendered effects on labour market participation. Ten years after the birth of their first grandchild, employed women are 12% less likely to hold full-time positions compared to a 2% reduction for men. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the transition to grandparenthood significantly reshapes health and economic outcomes for both women and men. The larger effects observed for women likely reflect their greater involvement in informal childcare provision. Our results underscore the intersection of health, family dynamics, and gendered labour market behaviours in late adulthood.

The image shows the following abstract: The Cost of Caring: Gendered Health and Labour Market Effects of Grandparenthood While the effects of the transition to parenthood are well-researched, less is known about how the transition to grandparenthood affects health and labour market outcomes. Using comprehensive Norwegian register data covering the entire population born between 1950 and 1960, we examine the effects of first-born grandchildren born during 2007โ€“2018. Employing event-study models with person-year records, we compare grandparents to not-yet grandparents. Our findings reveal a sharp increase in the likelihood of respiratory infections during the first two years of grandparenthood, with infections increasing by 56% for women and 31% for men. Additionally, grandparenthood modestly reduces the likelihood of doctorโ€™s visits related to mental disorders (4.5%) and cardiovascular health (3.3%). Grandmothers also see a decline in musculoskeletal-related visits (3.8%). These health-related changes coincide with notable gendered effects on labour market participation. Ten years after the birth of their first grandchild, employed women are 12% less likely to hold full-time positions compared to a 2% reduction for men. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the transition to grandparenthood significantly reshapes health and economic outcomes for both women and men. The larger effects observed for women likely reflect their greater involvement in informal childcare provision. Our results underscore the intersection of health, family dynamics, and gendered labour market behaviours in late adulthood.

New preprint๐Ÿ“ˆ๐Ÿ“‰

What happens to health and work when people become grandparents? Using Norwegian register data on all individuals born 1950-1960, we use event-study models comparing grandparents to not-yet grandparents to track changes in health and labour supply.

๐Ÿ”— www.ssrn.com/abstract=571...

20.11.2025 15:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
Google Scholar Is Doomed Academia built entire careers on a free Google service with zero guarantees. What could go wrong?

Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared

13.08.2025 01:28 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 867    ๐Ÿ” 377    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 54    ๐Ÿ“Œ 123

Here is a free link to the paper if you don't have access:: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

I also wrote a more detailed thread when I posted the preprint last year. Check it out here if you are interested: bsky.app/profile/hfsu...

04.08.2025 20:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

Accompanying the paper is an interactive web page with figures and tables showing the prevalence of psychological codes in the ICPC-2 by age, sex, and parental income quartile. Check it out here:
hfsu.shinyapps.io/prevalence_b...

04.08.2025 20:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image Post image

Our new paper is out today! ๐ŸŽ‰ In it, we use administrative register data to document how psychiatric disorders are strongly linked to parental income, from childhood far into adulthood. Furthermore, we attempt to separate causation and selection using kinship-based models.
doi.org/10.1111/jcpp...

04.08.2025 20:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 41    ๐Ÿ” 16    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

Our new study is just out in Psychological Science! We study cognitive ability at age 18 and mental health 20 years later in 270k Norwegian men. We include different mental disorders, compare education by ability, and run sibling-fixed effects. Check it out here: doi.org/10.1177/0956...

28.06.2025 11:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 20    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Post image

3/7
๐ŸŽ“ Educational attainment also independently predicted better mental health.
But the highest risk was for men who were low in both cognition and education.
This group faced the highest probability of adult psychiatric diagnoses.

28.06.2025 09:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

๐Ÿงต1/7
New study: How do adolescent cognitive ability and education predict adult mental disorders?
๐Ÿง ๐Ÿ“šโžœ๐Ÿง‘โ€โš•๏ธ
Using Norwegian register data (N = 272,351 men) of GP diagnoses and military assessed cognitive abilities.
๐Ÿ‘‡

28.06.2025 09:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 23    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
Post image Post image Post image Post image

Last week, our new paper on indirect assortative mating was published.๐Ÿพ Letโ€™s take a closer look at what this means, why it matters, and what we found (๐Ÿงต/32):

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

11.06.2025 21:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 49    ๐Ÿ” 21    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/b4c76_v1

1/13 New preprint out! We developed methods to test a key assumption in family-based genetic studies: that siblings donโ€™t genetically influence each otherโ€™s traits. Spoiler: mostly they donโ€™t, but thereโ€™s a twist with ADHD ratings at age 3 ๐Ÿ‘ถ
osf.io/preprints/ps...

10.06.2025 10:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 23    ๐Ÿ” 16    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Post image Post image

I will write a detailed thread next week. If something is confusing until then, I highly recommend the supplementary notes, where I go through the logic more slowly and in greater depth.

06.06.2025 18:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Results imply that partners are strongly assorting (r=.68) on education-associated trait(s) with large shared-environmental effects (i.e. Social Homogamy). Accounting for this in intergenerational models reveals previously hidden or underestimated environmental effects.

06.06.2025 18:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

Our paper on indirect assortative mating is now out in @natcomms.nature.com! In it, we provide refined definitions of terms used to explain partner similarity, develop statistical models, and find evidence of surprisingly high social homogamy for education.

Link: doi.org/10.1038/s414...

06.06.2025 18:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 32    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image Post image

Very grateful that I got to present at the ESSGN past Friday. In the study I presented, we looked at intergenerational transmission of education in a sample of the Norwegian population register. We used a Children-of-Twins model to look at GPA at age 16 and educational attainment in the parents.

26.05.2025 18:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 20    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Main figure of the paper: Associations between parental mental health (anxiety and depression, alcohol problematic use, ADHD, eating disorder) with children's tests scores in mathematics, reading comprehension and English as second language at age 10.

Main figure of the paper: Associations between parental mental health (anxiety and depression, alcohol problematic use, ADHD, eating disorder) with children's tests scores in mathematics, reading comprehension and English as second language at age 10.

New preprint!

We find no evidence that parental mental health influences children's academic achievement when comparing families in the Norwegian MoBa study.

osf.io/preprints/ps...

Quick thread ๐Ÿ‘‡

16.04.2025 10:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 57    ๐Ÿ” 20    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Post image

๐Ÿšจ Big question, big paper! Why does educational inequality run in families?
The parent-child education link (r = .31) is often seen as purely environmental.
From 569k kids, we decomposed it:
๐Ÿงฌ 68% genetic
๐Ÿก 12% parental environment
๐Ÿ‘ด 20% extended-family environment
๐Ÿ‘‰ doi.org/10.31234/osf...
๐Ÿงต

13.04.2025 08:23 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 59    ๐Ÿ” 25    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Vi har et skrikende behov for kunnskap for รฅ mรธte vรฅr tids utfordringer, med fallende skoleprestasjoner og รธkt fravรฆr.

Derfor er det avgjรธrende med et nasjonalt individdataregister fra skoler og barnehager, mener Camilla Stoltenberg, @martinflato.bsky.social, @torvik.bsky.social og Karin Monstad.

01.04.2025 08:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Vi har et skrikende behov for kunnskap om barn - Altinget Fallende skoleprestasjoner og รธkt fravรฆr avdekker et skrikende behov for kunnskap for รฅ mรธte vรฅr tids utfordringer. Til det trenger vi registre fra skoler og barnehager, skriver Martin Flatรธ, Fartein ...

Fallende skoleprestasjoner og รธkt fravรฆr avdekker et skrikende behov for kunnskap for รฅ mรธte vรฅr tids utfordringer. Til det trenger vi registre fra skoler og barnehager.

www.altinget.no/lovebakken/a...

01.04.2025 07:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Fleksibel skolestart Det er pรฅ hรธy tid at barnas behov settes foran systemets krav.

I dag fรฅr bare 0,6 % av barn utsatt skolestart i Norge. Det er alt for fรฅ, og det kan ha alvorlige konsekvenser for umodne barn

www.nrk.no/ytring/fleks...

10.02.2025 11:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
Nasjonale skjermrรฅd โ€“ nรฅ! Foreldre trenger tydelige rรฅd om barn og skjermbruk, ikke mumlete anbefalinger som ingen oppfatter.

Hvorfor er det tilsynelatende umulig for folk รฅ forstรฅ at dersom statens rรฅd skal ha legitimitet sรฅ mรฅ de vรฆre basert pรฅ forskning og fakta og ikke bare vรฆre noe som mest mulig er pรฅ linje med fรธlelsene til ressurssterke bekymrede foreldre? Og at man kan gjรธre ting uten at staten sier det?

26.01.2025 20:06 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 47    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
Genomic network analysis characterizes genetic architecture and identifies trait-specific biology Pervasive genetic overlap across human complex traits necessitates developing multivariate methods that can parse pleiotropic and trait-specific genetic signals. Here, we introduce Genomic Network Ana...

You've heard of DNA, but what about GNA? Very excited about this preprint with @jgthorp.bsky.social and others that introduces Genomic Network Analysis (GNA), an open-source multivariate tool for performing network analysis using GWAS summary statistics as input. 1/2
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

06.12.2024 15:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 29    ๐Ÿ” 10    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

(10/10) A big thank you to my excellent co-authors! @hfsunde.bsky.social, @rosacheesman.bsky.social, Nikolai Eftedal, Matthew C. Keller, @eivindy.bsky.social, and Espen M. Eilertsen

03.12.2024 13:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

(9/10) Several reasons besides direct assortment can explain partner similarities. In this paper, we cannot determine which processes are most important. However, we can distinguish between these in future research.

03.12.2024 13:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

@torvik is following 20 prominent accounts