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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Estimates of prenatal abstinence from alcohol: A matter of perspective
Addictive Behaviors
Volume 32, Issue 8, August 2007, Pages 1593-1601




Abstinence from alcohol has been recommended for both pregnant and pre-conceptional women.

The purpose of this study is to compare self and partner reports of abstinence from alcohol in a sample of 253 pregnant women who were T-ACE (Tolerance, Annoy, Cut-down, Eye-opener) alcohol screen positive.

Based on their own self-report, less than 20% of the pregnant women were abstinent in their first trimester and about half were abstinent for the rest of their pregnancy. Partners significantly over-estimated the women's abstinence from alcohol at all points except in the post-partum period when the dyad had the highest rate of agreement (85.4%).

Reasons for the discrepancies in the self and partner reports of prenatal abstinence, and how partners might influence such behavior remain speculative, but identify areas for future research and prevention.

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Reprint Request E-mail: Gchang@partners.org
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