14 Feb NYU Study Finds No Link Between Maternal Illness and Autism

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Janecka

Magdalena Janecka PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Associate Professor, Department of Population Health
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Several earlier studies have indicated that certain maternal conditions in pregnancy – for example, depression or obesity – are associated with higher rates of autism in offspring. However, the majority of the conditions females experience during pregnancy have not been investigated in the context of autism before. Additionally, while the evidence that these associations are likely not causal existed for a few maternal diagnoses, it was not clear whether this applies to just a few associations that have been examined or is more widespread.

Our study investigated the association between all maternal conditions in pregnancy (provided they were common enough to allow us to estimate their effects) and the likelihood of autism in the child. Then, for the significant associations, we tested whether these associations seemed causal, or whether they were instead attributable to other confounding factors. Confounders are other variables that can influence the relationship between the variables in a study, for example maternal health and autism. Factors shared by family members, i.e. familial factors (e.g., genetics) are common confounders in studies like ours, and are particularly difficult to account for.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response:  We found that while multiple maternal diagnoses were associated with autism in the child, majority of these associations seemed to be confounded by familial factors. This suggests that these maternal conditions in pregnancy are unlikely to cause autism. Instead, other factors shared by the family members – for example, genetics – are more likely to explain these observations. 

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: We hope our findings can be reassuring to many readers – including pregnant females, or parents of autistic individuals. Associations between maternal health (and other pregnancy exposures) are common, but they can arise even if there are no causal effects (correlation vs. causation!). Therefore, when reading studies reporting links between what mother does and does not do in pregnancy and the child outcomes, it is important to inspect whether this association was checked for the presence of confounders, including genetic factors.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a results of this study?

Response: We hope to highlight the importance of accounting for possible confounding by familial factors. While other confounders can be more easily addressed through adjustment (for example, maternal age), elucidating familial confounding requires other designs – e.g., use of a valid negative control (e.g., paternal exposure) or within-family comparisons. In settings where this is not possible, the potential for these familial effects driving the associations being reported should be acknowledged.

 MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add? Any disclosures?

Response: Nothing at all! The lead author, Dr. Vahe Khachadourian, is currently employed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, outside of this work.

Khachadourian, V., Arildskov, E.S., Grove, J. et al. Familial confounding in the associations between maternal health and autism. Nat Med (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03479-5

Citation: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03479-5

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Last Updated on February 14, 2025 by Marie Benz MD FAAD