Maternal Autoimmune Disorders and Child Mental Health: What a Large Study Found

In one sentence

A large Finnish study found that children exposed to certain maternal autoimmune disorders before birth have a slightly higher risk of some neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions, but the overall risk remains small and many disorders show no link.

What the researchers did

This was a nationwide, population-based cohort study in Finland. Researchers analyzed data from all live births between 1996 and 2014—over 1.1 million children—and followed them until 2021. They identified mothers who had an autoimmune or autoinflammatory disorder (AD/AID) diagnosed before or during pregnancy (about 34,000 mothers, or 3.2% of all births). Using health registers, they compared the rates of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders in children exposed to maternal AD/AID versus those not exposed. They adjusted for factors like maternal age, smoking, and psychiatric history.

What they found

• Children exposed to any maternal AD/AID had a 15% higher risk of a major psychiatric disorder (hazard ratio 1.15) and an 18% higher risk of a neurodevelopmental disorder (hazard ratio 1.18).
• Most individual associations were modest (hazard ratios below 2), but two exceptions showed more than double the risk: autism spectrum disorder in children of mothers with autoimmune thyroiditis, and other behavioral/emotional disorders in children of mothers with pernicious anemia.
• Maternal disorders affecting the nervous system (e.g., multiple sclerosis) did not increase the risk for offspring mental disorders.
• The strongest links were seen for connective tissue and endocrine autoimmune disorders, with hazard ratios ranging from 1.19 to 1.80 for conditions like ADHD, ASD, and mood disorders.

What this means for families and therapists

• For parents: If you have an autoimmune disorder, these findings do not mean your child will definitely develop a mental health condition. The overall risk increase is small, and most children of mothers with autoimmune disorders do not develop these conditions. Talk to your doctor about any concerns, but try not to worry excessively.
• For therapists: When working with children whose mothers have autoimmune conditions, be aware of a slightly elevated risk for certain neurodevelopmental disorders like ASD or ADHD. However, this is just one factor among many, and the vast majority of children will not be affected.
• For clinicians: Consider asking about maternal autoimmune history during intake for neurodevelopmental assessments, but interpret findings cautiously given the small absolute risks.

Limitations and what we don't know yet

• The study could not fully account for shared genetic or environmental factors because there were not enough siblings with different exposure statuses.
• Some autoimmune disorders were rare, so the numbers of affected children were very small (e.g., only 9 cases for the pernicious anemia finding).
• The study relied on registry diagnoses, which may miss mild or undiagnosed cases.
• It is observational, so it cannot prove that maternal autoimmune disorders cause mental health conditions in children—only that there is an association.
• The findings need to be confirmed in other large studies.

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This is a plain-language summary of Maternal Autoimmune Disorders and Child Mental Health: What a Large Study Found by Skott E., Cai W., Stiernborg M., Fogdell-Hahn A. et al., Human Reproduction Open (2026). Source license: CC-BY-4.0. It is not medical advice — talk to a qualified clinician before changing therapy.