Abstract
Indirect genetic effects from relatives may result in misleading quantifications of heritability, but can also be of interest in their own right. In this paper we propose Trio-GCTA, a model for separating direct and indirect genetic effects when genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data have been collected from parent-offspring trios. The model is applicable to phenotypes obtained from any of the family members. We discuss appropriate parameter interpretations and apply the method to four exemplar phenotypes; offspring birth weight, offspring temperament, maternal relationship satisfaction, and paternal body-mass index, using real data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
