Amy S. Myerson, MA¹, Mike Prelip, DPA, MPH¹, Deborah C. Glik, ScD¹, Katie Eilers, MPH², Juli B. Coulthurst, MPH³, and Barbara Rosen, MPA³. (1) Health and Media Research Group, UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, P.O. Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, 310-267-2692, amyerson@ucla.edu, (2) MotherNet LA, 409 East Palmer Street, Compton, CA 90221, (3) Southern California Chapter, March of Dimes, 3699 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 520, Los Angeles, CA 90010

In California, both rates of drinking among young women and rates of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome are relatively high, especially in disadvantaged communities and among African American and Caucasian women, with a growing risk among quickly acculturating Latinas. National media campaigns target a broad audience and often are created without community-level input. To counter this approach, and limited by a relatively low budget, we partnered with community-based organizations to create, implement, and evaluate a narrowcast print campaign to warn African American, Latina and Caucasian women in Southern California about the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Our evaluation consisted of a repeated cross sectional survey at two time points. Participants were women of childbearing age (18-35) contacted either at health clinics or via random digit dial phone interviews prior to and 8-9 months after campaign implementation. Our evaluation focused on beliefs about drinking during pregnancy, knowledge of the harmful effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, perceptions of others’ attitudes, and personal drinking behavior. Campaign impact as well as group differences in knowledge and beliefs associated with sociodemographic characteristics will be discussed. Of particular interest is the role of acculturation among Latinas. These results have implications for countering the alcohol industry’s targeted advertising to young women and ethnic minority groups. Further, strategies for conducting research in the community will be addressed.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the concept of a narrowcast campaign.
• Identify groups at risk for drinking during pregnancy.
• Identify similarities and differences among women of different cultures in their knowledge and beliefs about drinking during pregnancy.

Keywords: Community-Based Health Promotion, Perinatal Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.