Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) present serious problems for the twenty-first century. These disorders describe a variety of neurological and behavioral deficits that result from exposure of an unborn child to alcohol during pregnancy. While thousands of children are diagnosed with FASD annually, FASD is completely preventable if women…

Across the country, placements in foster care are rising. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 273,539 children in the U.S. entered foster care. In 34 percent of those cases, parental drug abuse was one of the factors leading to the child's removal from their family. Additionally, the U.S. Substance Abuse and…

Research has determined that the prevention of alcohol-exposed pregnancies (AEP) must occur preconceptually, either by reducing alcohol intake in women planning pregnancy or at risk for becoming pregnant, or by preventing pregnancy in women drinking at risky levels. One such AEP prevention programme with non-pregnant American-Indian (AI) women is…

The relationship of selected demographic, socioeconomic status (SES), and psychological characteristics was examined in interviews with 176 Northern Plains American Indian mothers whose children were referred to diagnostic clinics for evaluation of developmental disabilities, including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Thirty-nine mothers…

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of a series of brief interventions (BIs) on anti-natal alcohol consumption of women from a disadvantaged and high-risk background attending state health clinics in a rural district, Western Cape Province, South Africa. A pragmatic cluster randomised trial design was followed. All pregnant women,…

There is a need for more effective assessment and primary prevention programs aimed at accurately measuring and reducing alcohol consumption among women before conception in underserved, high-risk populations. Health Information Technology (HIT) may serve this purpose; however, the effectiveness of such tools is not known. We conducted a…

The tendency for women to report both commission and receipt of violence is an understudied phenomenon. In particular, little is known about individual differences as a function of commission vs. receipt of partner violence among pregnant women. Using a sample of 78 cohabiting low-SES pregnant women, the current study examines three violence…

Alcohol use among women of childbearing age is a leading, preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities in the United States. Although most women reduce their alcohol use upon pregnancy recognition, some women report drinking during pregnancy and others may continue to drink prior to realizing they are pregnant. These findings…

Project CHOICES developed an integrated behavioral intervention for prevention of prenatal alcohol exposure in women at high risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancies. Settings included primary care, university-hospital based obstetrical/gynecology practices, an urban jail, substance abuse treatment settings, and a media-recruited sample in three large…

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adolescents have high rates of pregnancy, as well as alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and, increasingly, methamphetamine (meth) use. The progression of adolescent drug use to meth use could have devastating impacts on AI communities, particularly when youth are simultaneously at risk for teen childbearing. In…

Researching the epidemiology and estimating the prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and other fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) for mainstream populations anywhere in the world has presented a challenge to researchers. Three major approaches have been used in the past: surveillance and record review systems, clinic-based studies, and…

Examined 43 unplanned pregnancies in 14-21 year olds. Explored alcohol use, amount of alcohol consumed, use of other drugs, planning of intercourse, nonuse of contraception, demographics. Findings suggest that drug or alcohol use may have been factor in pregnancy risk taking for some subjects; that women may be more psychologically vulnerable to…

This brochure, directed towards pregnant women, describes the dangers of alcohol, street drugs, smoking, and prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicines. It presents a story (in the mother's words) of a woman who took drugs to get high while pregnant and the ill effects on her son. The brochure claims being drug free means being a better…

This publication includes abstracts of 45 articles published in recent years on the effects of maternal and paternal alcohol and other drug use on the fetus; prevention and intervention programs; and teaching strategies to be used with prenatally drug-exposed children. While not an exhaustive list of available research on these topics, this review…

During the year 2004, 20% of eighth-graders and 60.3% of twelfth-graders reported that they had gotten drunk at least once over the course of just one year, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). Of the 10.7 million underage youth who drink, 7.2 million or 31% of all high school students binge drink with a frequency of at least…