The risks and costs associated with alcohol use disorders are well documented. These costs are onlymultiplied when problem drinking takes place during pregnancy; maternal alcohol abuse places children atsignificant risk, both prenatally, and postnatally. However, the perinatal period also represents a uniqueopportunity in terms of capitalizing on natural readiness to change. Further, brief motivational interventionshave shown tremendous promise in terms of potential contact with large proportions of persons withsubstance 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 ormediate brief motivational interventions. Second, there is significant difficulty disseminating suchinterventions cost-effectively into the community; numerous obstacles, including time and resources, havelimited the extent to which these interventions have been implemented. The proposed study will addressthese needs by utilizing a computer-based brief intervention that could greatly facilitate replication in thecommunity. In conducting this study, the applicant will take advantage of the unique training opportunitiesavailable at the Substance Abuse Research Division of the Department of Psychiatry and BehavioralNeurosciences of Wayne State University, including the mentorship of Steven Ondersma, Ph.D, an expert oncomputer-based brief motivational interventions in the perinatal period, as well as an advisory committeeincluding Drs.Robert Sokol and Sandra Jacobson, experts in the area of alcohol and fetal-alcohol spectrumdisorders research.
The specific aims of this project are to: (1) Recruit a sample of 100 ethnically diversepregnant women endorsing problem alcohol use (scoring positive on the T-ACE alcohol screen), andrandomly 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 daysfollowing the single-session intervention; (3) evaluate the extent to which executive functioning moderatesthe association between intervention and outcomes.The existence of a brief computer-based intervention within the prenatal community would enableprofessionals in primary care or other settings to have a meaningful impact on substance use within theirsetting. Further, there is promising evidence that the application of brief interventions to women in theprenatal 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 |
