Brief intervention aimed at fetal alcohol syndrome prevention: effectiveness study

Abstract

This article represents the results of the study aimed at the research of psychological effects of a dual-focused brief intervention for prevention of fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol-exposed pregnancy among childbearing age women in Russia. 280 women took part in the research. The study used the following methods: screening, «Audit», Calendar method, baseline interview, follow-up interviews at 3, 6 and 12 months, the Big Five questionnaire, the method of motivational induction, the method of assessing the level of subjective control. The study measured women’s knowledge about FAS and FASD, their attitudes towards alcohol consumption and in particular alcohol use during pregnancy, their real alcohol consumption level, use of contraception, the risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancy and possibly FAS or FASD, the socio-demographical characteristics and psychological features of women. The results of the study showed the effectiveness of dual-focused brief intervention and passive informing that were designed and used for FAS prevention.