A new study led by CHRIM researcher, Dr. Florencia Ricci, along with several co-investigators from the University of Manitoba looked into the association between parental immigration and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Manitoba, Canada.

The study was funded by the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba 2021 ENRRICH Catalyst Grant and has been published in the Oxford Academic Paediatrics and Child Health Journal.

For this project, the research team collected data using electronic medical records of children diagnosed with ASD between 2016 and 2021 at Manitoba’s only publicly funded referral site for ASD evaluation in children under years of age. Children who were born in or outside of Canada whose parents/guardians (one or both) were foreign-born were identified to have ‘immigrant’ parents.

The proportion of Manitoba’s immigrant population (including non-permanent residents) was obtained from 2016 to 2021 Census data and compared to the proportion of children diagnosed with ASD who had immigrant parent(s). From there, descriptive statistics were used to compare the characteristics of children with ASD born to immigrants versus non-immigrant parents.

Results showed that among the 1858 children diagnosed with ASD during the study period, 669 (36%) had immigrant parents. This proportion was greater than the proportion of immigrants (and non-permanent residents) living in Manitoba in 2016.

Those with immigrant parents had a lower rate of family history of ASD, and associated neurologic comorbidities, and there were no statistical differences in rates of preterm birth or use of Autism Diagnostic Observation between groups. 

This study showed an over-representation of immigrant families among young children diagnosed with ASD in Manitoba. Further studies are still needed to understand mechanisms that may play a role in this association.