CHOICES: An Empirically Supported Intervention for Preventing Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancy in Community Settings

Abstract

Examples of behavioral interventions that are efficacious in the research setting as well as practical and translatable to the “real-world” are critically needed as models for social work researchers and clinicians. This article presents the Changing High-Risk Alcohol Use and Improving Contraception Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) intervention as a case example of an empirically supported intervention that was systematically developed, implemented, and tested by researchers and practitioners, and then successfully disseminated in a variety of real-world settings. The Project CHOICES research team took deliberate steps to ensure that implementation of the CHOICES intervention would be feasible and flexible and that practitioners would be equipped with the tools needed to maintain treatment fidelity. This team effort enabled the successful, nationwide dissemination of the CHOICES intervention.

Keywords

prevention field of practice health care women population addictions

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Brekke

J. S.

Ell

Palinkas

L. A.

(2007). Translational science at the National Institute of Mental health: Can social work take its rightful place? Research on Social Work Practice, 17, 123–133.

Carbonari

J. P.

DiClemente

C. C.

(2000). Using transtheoretical model profiles to differentiate levels of alcohol abstinence success. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 810–817. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.68.5.810

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). CHOICES: A program for women about choosing healthy behaviors. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/documents/choices_onepager_april2013.pdf

DiClemente

C. C.

Velasquez

M. M

. (2002). Motivational interviewing and the stages of change. In Miller

W. R.

Rollnick

(Eds.), Motivational interviewing: Preparing people for change (2nd ed., pp. 201–216). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Floyd

R. L.

Decouflé

Hungerford

D. W.

(1999). Alcohol use prior to pregnancy recognition. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 17, 101–107. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(99)00059-8

Floyd

R. L.

Sobell

Velasquez

M. M.

Ingersoll

Nettleman

Sobell

… Nagaraja

(2007). Preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32, 1–10. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2006.08.028

Parrish

(2013, April). Welcoming Address. Bridging the Gap: a Symposium on Critical Considerations, Successes and Emerging Ideas. University of Houston, Houston, TX.

Project CHOICES Intervention Research Group. (2003). Reducing the risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancies: A study of a motivational intervention in community settings. Pediatrics, 111, 1131–1135.

Project CHOICES Research Group. (2002). Alcohol-exposed pregnancy: Characteristics associated with risk. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23, 166–173.

10.

Sobell

. (1992). Timeline follow-back. In Litten

Allen

(Eds.), Measuring alcohol consumption (pp. 41–72). Bethesda, MD: Humana Press. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0357-5_3

11.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Center for Excellence. (n.d.). Assessment and prevention programs: FASD prevention programs. Retrieved April 25, 2013, from http://fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/assessmentprevention/fasdprevention.aspx

12.

Velasquez

M. M.

(2013, April). CHOICES preconception intervention. Oral presentation at the Bridging the Gap: A Symposium on Critical Considerations, Successes, and Emerging Ideas, Houston, TX.

13.

Velasquez

M. M.

Ingersoll

K. S.

Sobell

M. B.

Floyd

R. L.

Sobell

L. C.

von Sternberg

(2010). A dual-focus motivational intervention to reduce the risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancy. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 17, 203–212. doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2009.02.004

14.

Velasquez

M. M.

von Sternberg

Johnson

D. H.

Green

Carbonari

J. P.

Parsons

J. P.

(2009). Reducing sexual risk behavior and alcohol use among HIV-positive men who have sex with men: A randomized clinical control trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 657–667. doi:10.1037/a0015519

15.

Velasquez

M. M.

von Sternberg

Parrish

(2013). CHOICES: An integrated behavioral intervention to prevent alcohol-exposed pregnancies among high-risk women in community settings. Social Work in Public Health, 28, 1–10. doi:10.1080/19371918.2013.759011

16.

von Sternberg

Cardoso

J. B.

Jun

Learman

Velasquez

M. M.

(2012). An examination of the path between recent sexual violence and sexually transmitted infections. Women’s Health Issues, 22, e283–e292. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2012.01.004