Women's knowledge and attitudes regarding alcohol consumption in pregnancy: a national survey

Abstract

BackgroundAlcohol exposure in pregnancy is a common and modifiable risk factor for poor pregnancy and child outcomes. Alcohol exposure in pregnancy can cause a range of physical and neurodevelopmental problems in the child including the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). In order to improve prevention strategies, we sought to describe the knowledge and attitudes of women of childbearing age regarding alcohol consumption during pregnancy and its effects on the fetus.MethodsWe conducted a national cross-sectional survey via computer assisted telephone interview of 1103 Australian women aged 18 to 45 years. Participants were randomly selected from the Electronic White Pages. Pregnant women were not eligible to participate. Quotas were set for age groups and a minimum of 100 participants per state to ensure a national sample reflecting the population. The questionnaire was based on a Health Canada survey with additional questions constructed by the investigators. Descriptive statistics were calculated and logistic regression analyses were used to assess associations with participants' knowledge and attitudes.ResultsOf women surveyed, 61.5% had heard about effects of alcohol on the fetus and 55.3% had heard of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Although 92.7% agreed alcohol can affect the unborn child, 16.2% did not agree that the disabilities could be lifelong. Most women agreed that pregnant women should not drink alcohol (80.2%) and 79.2% reported having negative feelings towards pregnant women drinking alcohol. Women with higher education levels were more likely to know the effects of alcohol consumption in pregnancy (adjusted OR 5.62; 95% CI 3.20 to 9.87) but education level and knowledge were not associated with attitude.ConclusionsThere was a disjunction between knowledge and attitudes towards alcohol consumption in pregnancy. These findings will assist in developing effective health promotion campaigns to reduce fetal alcohol exposure and subsequent fetal damage.

Attitudes and behaviour predict women's intention to drink alcohol during pregnancy: the challenge for health professionals

“…Women with higher levels of education have higher levels of knowledge [23] but despite this, are more likely to drink alcohol in pregnancy. Education level is an independent predictor of alcohol use in pregnancy but is not explained solely by women's current alcohol consumption.…”

Do attitudes and knowledge predict at-risk drinking among Russian women?

“…These findings contrast with data from countries where FASD public awareness campaigns have been widely conducted, knowledge is higher and attitudes more strongly favour caution about alcohol use during pregnancy (45, 46). In our sample, more educated women demonstrated more accurate knowledge about the specific effects of alcohol consumption in pregnancy (26, 45). However in St. Petersburg, a major city where women were better educated, women’s attitudes were more favourable towards alcohol consumption during pregnancy compared to more rural Nizhny Novgorod Region locations, when we expected to find the opposite.…”

“…While the majority of studies found correlations between alcohol beliefs and risky drinking (21, 22), there are mixed data about effects of knowledge. Several studies reported that increased knowledge had limited, if any, effects on attitudes and alcohol consumption (23–26). In addition, a study of general health control beliefs in Russian population reported weaker and less consistent associations between beliefs and health behaviors in Russia compared to other countries (27).…”

Knowing, Valuing and Acting: Relationships between information, attitudes and drinking during pregnancy / Saber, Valorar y Actuar: Relaciones entre información, actitudes y consumo de alcohol durante la gestación

“…Por ejemplo Kesmodel y Schioler Kesmodel (2002) hallaron que la abstinencia durante la gestación era más Sin embargo, a diferencia de lo reportado en otros estudios (Kesmodel & Schioler Kesmodel, 2002;Peadon et al, 2010), la información respecto a las consecuencias negativas del consumo durante la gestación y las actitudes respecto al consumo durante ese período se encontraron fuertemente Teniendo en cuenta esta perspectiva amplia de información, la misma puede considerarse como uno de los factores constitutivos de las actitudes (Ajzen & Fishbein, 2005), en las que confluyen los aspectos cognitivo-representacionales y experienciales-emotivos ligados a un objeto social, lo cual explicaría la fuerte relación encontrada entre esas variables.…”