Do maternal and paternal education protect against developmental delays?

Parental education is linked to child development and wellbeing, but unique and combined contributions of maternal and paternal education have rarely been studied.

This study assessed the individual and joint associations of maternal and paternal education on children's odds of a probable developmental delay.

Mothers (N = 3566) from the Upstate KIDS cohort study reported on theirs and the father's highest level of education and completed the Ages and Stages Questionnaires up to 7 times when the child was 4- to 36-months-old. A nonparametric constrained inference technique assessed the association between education and probable developmental delays.

Higher levels of maternal and paternal education were protective against child probable developmental delays in years 2 (18, 24 months; p-trends<.001) and 3 (30, 36 months; p-trends<.001), but not year 1 (4, 8, 12 months; p-trend=.486-.832). Trends held adjusting for parental age and race. When adjusting for the other parent's education, only maternal education had unique associations with delays. Among parents with the same or similar education levels, when both parents had one level higher education it was also protective.

Both maternal and paternal education may protect against children's developmental delays in toddlerhood, but maternal education may be particularly important.