Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
FASDs, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, awareness, knowledge, college students
Abstract
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) result from women drinking alcohol during pregnancy. This objective of this project is to assess college students’ awareness of FASDs and determine if education improves self-reported attitudes towards drinking while pregnant or when pregnancy is possible. Previously conducted studies have equipped healthcare professionals to provide education to at-risk mothers and to intervene in pregnant mothers. However, little research has been done on informing those who are not yet pregnant but who may become pregnant about this disease and its prevention. This study will attempt to add to the literature on FASDs prevention by targeting college students, a population usually of child-bearing age which is associated with high rates of alcohol consumption. The researchers will contact professors of general education classes as well as leaders of campus organizations for permission to conduct research on students involved in these classes and organizations. Once research subjects have been identified and have given informed consent, the researchers will give a pre-test to the subjects to gather demographic information as well as baseline knowledge and attitudes. Then, a five-minute educational video will be shown to the participants which will explain the nature of FASDs and the consequences of drinking during pregnancy. Finally, a post-test will be administered immediately after the presentation to reassess knowledge and willingness to modify drinking habits. The researchers will run a Shapiro-Wilk test to evaluate the normality of the data. Parametric data will be analyzed by paired t-tests, while nonparametric data will be analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank. The researchers will determine how awareness and attitudes about FASDs and alcohol consumption change from the pre-test to the post-test, as well as examine how demographics information relates to attitudes and awareness.
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-20-2016 11:00 AM
End Date
4-20-2016 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
College Student Awareness of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Cedarville, OH
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) result from women drinking alcohol during pregnancy. This objective of this project is to assess college students’ awareness of FASDs and determine if education improves self-reported attitudes towards drinking while pregnant or when pregnancy is possible. Previously conducted studies have equipped healthcare professionals to provide education to at-risk mothers and to intervene in pregnant mothers. However, little research has been done on informing those who are not yet pregnant but who may become pregnant about this disease and its prevention. This study will attempt to add to the literature on FASDs prevention by targeting college students, a population usually of child-bearing age which is associated with high rates of alcohol consumption. The researchers will contact professors of general education classes as well as leaders of campus organizations for permission to conduct research on students involved in these classes and organizations. Once research subjects have been identified and have given informed consent, the researchers will give a pre-test to the subjects to gather demographic information as well as baseline knowledge and attitudes. Then, a five-minute educational video will be shown to the participants which will explain the nature of FASDs and the consequences of drinking during pregnancy. Finally, a post-test will be administered immediately after the presentation to reassess knowledge and willingness to modify drinking habits. The researchers will run a Shapiro-Wilk test to evaluate the normality of the data. Parametric data will be analyzed by paired t-tests, while nonparametric data will be analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank. The researchers will determine how awareness and attitudes about FASDs and alcohol consumption change from the pre-test to the post-test, as well as examine how demographics information relates to attitudes and awareness.
