Associations of Characteristics of Parental Country of Birth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Early Learning Delay Among Immigrant Populations in the US: Findings from the Study to Explore Early Development.
Children of immigrants from less-developed or male-favoring countries face higher odds of autism paired with learning delay.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Aiona et al. (2025) looked at US kids with autism or early learning delay. They asked: does mom or dad's birth country matter?
They checked country data like human development and gender equality. Then they saw if kids from those families had higher autism odds.
What they found
Kids whose parents came from low-development or high-inequality countries had higher odds of autism plus learning delay together.
The link only showed up for the combo, not autism alone or delay alone.
How this fits with other research
Vanegas (2021) extends the story. That study saw immigrant kids in multilingual homes get autism labels earlier, not later. It adds timing detail Kaylynn did not cover.
Leng et al. (2024) seems to disagree. In China, migrant kids get autism diagnoses later. The clash is only on the surface: China has fewer services, so kids wait. The US data show risk, not delay.
Cohen et al. (2018) gives culture color. Mexican-heritage parents link autism to stigma and vaccines. Kaylynn gives numbers; R et al. gives voices. Together they tell you what numbers mean to families.
Why it matters
When you screen an immigrant child, ask where parents were born. If the country ranks low on development or gender parity, plan extra checks for both autism and learning delay. Do not wait for failure; start joint speech and developmental probes early. Share findings with parents using clear, stigma-free language that fits their cultural view of disability.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Our objective was to explore associations between human development and gender inequality indices in the birth country of immigrant parents and child risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) alone, ASD with early learning delay (ELD), and ELD alone. We used data from a multi-site case-control study that recruited US-born children aged 2-5 years with ASD and developmental delays through clinical and educational sources and a population control group through vital records. We defined ELD as Mullen Scales of Early Learning composite score ≤ 70. Parental birth country and socio-demographics were collected via interview. Associations between United Nations Development Programme human development (low-medium/high-very high), inequality-adjusted human development (< 50th /≥50th percentile) and gender inequality (≥ 50th /<50th percentile) indices with ASD/ELD categories were assessed with multinomial logistic regression. Effect modification by having a non-US born mother vs. non-US-born father only, and age at parental immigration was assessed. Odds for ASD + ELD were higher if parents immigrated from a country with lower human development, both overall and adjusted for inequality, and more gender inequalities. None of the indices were significantly associated with ASD alone nor ELD alone. Having a non-US-born mother vs. non-US-born father only and parental age at immigration did not modify these relationships. This study supports evidence that health, well-being and equality conditions in the birth country of immigrant parents may influence ASD + ELD risk but not ASD alone or ELD alone. Results can be used to support families immigrating from countries with low human development and high gender inequality indices and their US-born children.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001034