To identify the demographic, psychological, and social maternal risk factors associated with the development of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). A bibliographic search was conducted in PubMed, SciELO, Lilacs, Web of Knowledge, and PsycINFO. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the quality of the studies with case-control design. Articles were selected based on their relevance and presentation of data related to statistical comparisons of at least one or more demographic, psychological, or social maternal risk factors for FASD. 738 references were identified, of which 15 met the criteria to be included in the present review. Mothers of FASD children tend to: be older at the time of birth of the affected child, present lower educational level, have other family relatives with alcohol abuse, have other children with FASD, present a pattern of little prenatal care and a distinguishing pattern of alcohol consumption (alcohol use before and during pregnancy, failure to reduce alcohol use during pregnancy, and frequent episodes of binge drinking). Application of the NOS scale of methodological quality indicated that 8 studies (53 %) met the criterion for selection, 4 (27 %) were suitable for the criterion for comparability and only 4 studies were suitable for the exposition criterion. Mothers of FASD children have a distinctive pattern of drinking and accumulate several social risk factors. Maternal age at birth of the child seems to accentuate the risk. There are, however, few controlled studies that are adequate according to the NOS requirements for methodological quality. Fewer are based on the verification of a theoretical model. Clinicians should be aware of the relevance of preventive assessment of FASD risk mothers.

MethodArticles that empirically assessed the relationship between stress AbstractThis study aimed to develop a systematic review of literature about psychological stress, alcohol consumption and gender. Search strategies were used in the following databases: Medline and Pubmed. We found 20 studies, most of them published in the last decade, from the United States of America (USA) and with a cross-sectional design. Twelve studies have found associations, either positive as negative, between stressful events and alcohol consumption for both, men and women. Associations were identified exclusively for men in other seven studies. Some studies have also identified that the association between stress and alcohol consumption appears to be moderated by intervening factors such as coping strategies, age, type and number of experienced stressful events, vulnerability and expectations of tension reduction related to alcohol consumption. We conclude that the evidence seems to be stronger for the relationship between stress and alcohol consumption especially among men. Considering the high diversity of methods and sampling approaches it is recommendable that future studies should include the analysis of specific measures of alcohol consumption in order to provide a better estimate of the negative effects of stress and assess the efficacy of preventive interventions for alcohol consumption related to stressful experiences.

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Quantitative and descriptive study aimed to identify sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of women undergoing outpatient treatment for alcohol abuse. Data were collected from medical records of women with alcohol-related disorders who were treated at a psychiatric outpatient service We performed a reading and descriptive analysis of such data. The sample was composed of 27 medical records, the average age of women was 50 years, mostly married (59.6%), not working (70.4%) with incomplete primary education (70.4%), with an alcoholic family (81.5%) and other psychiatric diagnoses (70.3%). Losses physical, social and emotional was the most common symptoms resulting from alcohol withdrawal syndrome (66.7%), family conflicts (72%) and "sadness" (79.2%). Family violence was recorded in 11 records (40.7%). There was low education, unemployment, psychiatric comorbidities and the presence of other family members with alcohol abuse as common characteristics. We emphasize the importance of professional knowledge about the peculiarities of female alcoholism for health activities more effective.