The risks and costs associated with alcohol use disorders are well documented. These costs are only multiplied when problem drinking takes place during pregnancy; maternal alcohol abuse places children at significant risk, both prenatally, and postnatally. However, the perinatal period also represents a unique opportunity in terms of capitalizing on natural readiness to change. Further, brief motivational interventions have shown tremendous promise in terms of potential contact with large proportions of persons with substance use disorders via the primary care system. Despite the significant promise of brief interventions, several obstacles exist. First, there is limited information available regarding factors that moderate or mediate brief motivational interventions. Second, there is significant difficulty disseminating such interventions cost-effectively into the community; numerous obstacles, including time and resources, have limited the extent to which these interventions have been implemented. The proposed study will address these needs by utilizing a computer-based brief intervention that could greatly facilitate replication in the community. In conducting this study, the applicant will take advantage of the unique training opportunities available at the Substance Abuse Research Division of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences of Wayne State University, including the mentorship of Steven Ondersma, Ph.D, an expert on computer-based brief motivational interventions in the perinatal period, as well as an advisory committee including Drs.Robert Sokol and Sandra Jacobson, experts in the area of alcohol and fetal-alcohol spectrum disorders research.
The specific aims of this project are to: (1) Recruit a sample of 100 ethnically diverse pregnant women endorsing problem alcohol use (scoring positive on the T-ACE alcohol screen), and randomly assign participants to intervention (computer-based brief intervention) or control (assessment only) conditions; (2) measure change in alcohol consumption (frequency, quantity, and binge use) 30 days following the single-session intervention; (3) evaluate the extent to which executive functioning moderates the association between intervention and outcomes. The existence of a brief computer-based intervention within the prenatal community would enable professionals in primary care or other settings to have a meaningful impact on substance use within their setting. Further, there is promising evidence that the application of brief interventions to women in the prenatal period offers substantial benefits to both the woman and her unborn child.
| Tzilos, Golfo K; Sokol, Robert J; Ondersma, Steven J (2011) A randomized phase I trial of a brief computer-delivered intervention for alcohol use during pregnancy. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 20:1517-24 |
| Tzilos, Golfo K; Grekin, Emily R; Beatty, Jessica R et al. (2010) Commission versus receipt of violence during pregnancy: associations with substance abuse variables. J Interpers Violence 25:1928-40 |
