Motivational interviewing + feedback intervention to reduce alcohol-exposed pregnancy risk among college binge drinkers: determinants and patterns of response

Many college women are at risk for pregnancy, and binge drinking college women are often at risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancy. Brief interventions with sustainable outcomes are needed, particularly for college women who are binge drinking, at risk for pregnancy, and at increased risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancy. Two-hundred-twenty-eight women at a Mid-Atlantic urban university at risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancy enrolled in the randomized clinical trial, and 207 completed the 4 month follow-up. The BALANCE intervention used Motivational Interviewing plus feedback to target drinking and contraception behaviors. Main outcome measures included (1) the rate of risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancy, (2) the rate of risk drinking, and (3) the rate of pregnancy risk. At 4-month follow-up, the rate of alcohol-exposed pregnancy risk was significantly lower in the intervention (20.2%) than the control condition (34.9%), ( P