Time-series analysis examines the impact of the alcohol warning label on in-pregnancy drinking by 21,127 African-American pregnant women between 1986 and 1995. Controlling for patient characteristics and unemployment rate, the authors find that the label had a significant, modest impact on drinking. The results suggest that more intensive interventions are needed to reduce in-pregnancy drinking.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BowmanR.S., SteinL.I., and NewtonJ.R. (1975), “Measurement and Interpretation of Drinking Behavior,”Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 35(9), 1154–72.
2.
BrennerM. Harvey (1987), “Economic Change, Alcohol Consumption, and Heart Disease Mortality in Nine Industrial Countries,”Social Science and Medicine, 25(2), 119–32.
3.
BrennerM. Harvey, and MooneyAnne (1983), “Unemployment and Health in the Context of Economic Change,”Social Science and Medicine, 17(16), 1125–38.
4.
CatalanoRalph, DooleyDavid, WilsonGeorjeanna, and HoughRichard (1993), “Job Loss and Alcohol Abuse: A Test Using Data from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Project,”Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 34(September), 215–25.
5.
CookT.D., and CampbellDonald T. (1979), Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings.Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
6.
CookeD.J., and AllanCarole A. (1983), “Self-Reported Alcohol Consumption and Dissimulation in a Scottish Urban Sample,”Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 44(4), 617–29.
7.
CrawfordAlex, PlantMartin A., KreitmanNorman, and LatchamRichard W. (1987), “Unemployment and Drinking Behaviour: Some Data from a General Population Survey of Alcohol Use,”British Journal of Addiction, 82(9), 1007–16.
8.
ErnhartClaire B., Morrow-TlucakM., SokolRobert J., and MartierSusan (1988), “Underreporting of Alcohol Use in Pregnancy,”Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 12(4), 506–11.
9.
ForcierMichael W. (1988), “Unemployment and Alcohol Abuse: A Review,”Journal of Occupational Medicine, 27(3), 246–51.
10.
GreenfieldThomas K., GravesKaren L., and KaskutasLee A. (1997), “Long-Term Effects of Alcohol Warning Labels: Findings from a Comparison of the United States and Ontario, Canada,” unpublished manuscript, Alcohol Research Group, Berkeley, CA.
11.
GroeneveldJudith, ShainMartin, and SimonJames (1990), Unemployment, Alcohol, and Drugs: A Contextual Study.Toronto: Addictions Research Foundation.
12.
HankinJanet R., FirestoneIra J., SloanJames J., AgerJoel W., GoodmanAllen C., SokolRobert J., and MartierSusan (1993), “The Impact of the Alcohol Warning Label on Drinking During Pregnancy,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 12(Spring), 10–18.
13.
HankinJanet R., FirestoneIra J., SloanJames J., AgerJoel W., SokolRobert J., and MartierSusan (1996), “Heeding the Alcoholic Beverage Warning Label During Pregnancy: Multiparae Versus Nulliparae,”Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 57(March), 171–77.
14.
HankinJanet R., SloanJames J., FirestoneIra J., AgerJoel W., SokolRobert J., and MartierSusan S., (1996), “Has Awareness of the Alcohol Warning Label Reached Its Upper Limit?”Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 20(May), 440–44.
15.
HankinJanet R., SloanJames J., FirestoneIra J., AgerJoel W., SokolRobert J., and MartierSusan S., and TownsendJoyce (1993a), “The Alcohol Beverage Warning Label: When Did Knowledge Increase?”Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 17(March/April), 428–30.
16.
HankinJanet R., SloanJames J., FirestoneIra J., AgerJoel W., SokolRobert J., and MartierSusan S., and TownsendJoyce (1993b), “A Time Series Analysis of the Impact of the Alcohol Warning Label on Antenatal Drinking,”Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 17(March/April), 284–89.
17.
HeienDale, and PompelliGreg (1987), “Stress, Ethnic, and Distribution Factors in a Dichotomous Response Model of Alcohol Abuse,”Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48(5), 450–55.
18.
HiltonMichael E. (1993), “An Overview of Recent Findings on Alcoholic Beverages Warning Labels,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 12(Spring), 1–9.
19.
IversenLars, and KlausenHans (1986), “Alcohol Consumption Among Laid-Off Workers Before and After Closure of a Danish Ship-Yard: A 2-Year Follow-Up Study,”Social Science and Medicine, 22(1), 107–109.
20.
JacobsonJoseph L., JacobsonSandra W., SokolRobert J., MartierSusan S., and AgerJoel W. (1992), “Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Neurobehavioral Function in Infancy: Evidence for Threshold and Differential Vulnerability,” (Abstract),American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 166(1), 346.
21.
KaskutasLee, and GreenfieldThomas K. (1992), “First Effects of Warning Labels on Alcoholic Beverage Containers,”Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 31 (1), 1–14.
22.
KaskutasLee, GreenfieldThomas K., LeeM., and CoteJ. (1998), “Reach and Effects of Health Messages on Drinking During Pregnancy,”Journal of Health Education, 29(1), 11–17.
23.
KesslerRonald C., Blake TurnerJ., and HouseJames S. (1987), “Intervening Processes in the Relationship Between Unemployment and Health,”Psychol Med (QER), 17(14), 949–61.
24.
KruseJerry, FevreMichael Le, and ZweigEven (1986), “Changes in Smoking and Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy: A Population-Based Study in a Rural Area,”Obstetrics & Gynecology, 67(5), 627–32.
25.
LinskyArnold S., StrausMurray A., and ColbyJohn P.Jr. (1985), “Stressful Events, Stressful Conditions, and Alcohol Problems in the United States: A Partial Test of Bale's Theory,”Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 46(1), 72–80.
26.
MacKinnonDavid P., PentzM.A., and StacyA.W. (1993), “The Alcohol Warning Label and Adolescents: The First Year,”American Journal of Public Health, 83, (4), 585–87.
27.
MazisMichael B., MorrisL.A., and SwasyJ.L. (1996), “Longitudinal Study of Awareness, Recall, and Acceptance of Warning Labels,”Applied Behavioral Science Review, 4(2), 111–20.
28.
PeterJ. Paul, ChurchillGilbert A.Jr., and BrownTom J. (1993), “Caution in the Use of Difference Scores in Consumer Research,”Journal of Consumer Research, 19(March), 655–62.
29.
PierceRobert S., FroneMichael R., RussellMarcia, and Lynne CooperM. (1994), “Relationship of Financial Strain and Psychosocial Resources to Alcohol Use and Abuse: The Mediating Role of Negative Affect and Drinking Motives,”Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35(December), 291–308.
30.
ScammonD.L., MayerR.N., and SmithK.R. (1991), “Alcohol Warnings: How Do You Know When You Have Had One Too Many?”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 10(Spring), 229–41.
31.
ScammonD.L., MayerR.N., and SmithK.R. (1992), “The Morning After: Have Consumers Learned Anything from Alcohol Warning Labels?” in Proceedings of the 1992 Marketing and Public Policy Conference, BloomP.N., and StarR.G., eds. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
32.
SmartReginald G. (1979), “Drinking Problems Among Employed, Unemployed, and Shift Workers,”Journal of Occupational Medicine, 21(11), 731–36.
33.
SokolRobert J., MillerS. I., DebanneS., GoldenN., CollinsG., KaplanJ., and MartierSusan (1981), ‘The Cleveland NIAAA Prospective Alcohol-in-Pregnancy Study: The First Year,”Neurobehavioral Toxicology and Teratology, 3(2), 203–209.
34.
StrattonKathleen R., HoweCynthia J., and BattagliaFrederick C. (1996), Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment.Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
35.
U.S. Congress (1988), Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act. 27 U.S.C. Section 213 et seq.
36.
WarrPeter (1984), “Job Loss, Unemployment, and Psychological Well-Being,” in Role Transitions, AllenV.L., and van de VliertE., eds. New York: Plenum Press,263–85.
37.
WarrPeter, and PayneRoy (1983), “Social Class and Reported Changes in Behavior After Job Loss,”Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 13(3), 206–22.
38.
WeinerLyn, RosettHenry L., EdelinKenneth, AlpertJoel J., and ZuckermanBarry (1983), “Alcohol Consumption by Pregnant Women,”Obstetrics & Gynecology, 61(1), 6–12.
39.
WintonMaurice, HeatherNick, and RobertsonIan (1986), “Effects of Unemployment on Drinking Behavior: A Review of the Relevant Evidence,”The International Journal of the Addictions, 21(12), 1261–83.
40.
WolgalterMichael S., and LaugheryKenneth R. (1996), “WARNING! Sign and Label Effectiveness,”Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5(April), 33–37.
