Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a leading cause of developmental disability in the Western world, and is entirely preventable. Still, 20% of women who drink continue to do so during pregnancy. Efforts at prevention have failed to access many high-risk women in time to intervene effectively, A venue frequently visited by drinking gravidas (pregnant women) is the public drinking establishment. Much damage can be prevented by intervention in the second and third trimesters when pregnancy is ordinarily visible to alcohol service personnel. Ongoing social relationships between bar staff and customers also provide opportunities for transmission of prevention information to women early in pregnancy, before pregnancy is visible. This study will design and evaluate an interactive, computer-based alcohol server-training program for the prevention of FAS and other fetal alcohol effects. The training program, on a CD-ROM, will incorporate components of demonstrated effectiveness in promoting server intervention with pregnant drinkers from a current NIAAA study, and will incorporate training issues salient to alcohol serving establishments. The program will be evaluated with 140 bar owners, managers and alcohol servers using pre- post- design to assess the impact of the program and collect both process and outcome data.
