Fm. Donnelly et al., KNOWLEDGE AND MISCONCEPTIONS AMONG INNER-CITY AFRICAN-AMERICAN MOTHERS REGARDING ALCOHOL AND DRUG-USE, The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 24(4), 1998, pp. 675-683
Alcohol and drug knowledge of inner-city mothers was evaluated followi
ng an educational mailing, and the relationship between knowledge and
alcohol and illicit drug use during pregnancy was tested. Eighty-four
postpartum African-American mothers with known alcohol and drug use du
ring pregnancy received a U.S. Department of Education publication, Gr
owing Up Drug Free: A Parent's Guide to Prevention. Results of a phone
-administered quiz from this booklet were compiled, and alcohol and dr
ug use subgroups were compared. The average score was 50%. Half of the
women did not know that alcohol is the most commonly used drug in the
United States. Few identified alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana as the
three drugs most commonly used by children. Lack of teenage substance
use experience was perceived to increase the risk of chemical dependen
cy. Drinkers and drug users were fourfold more Likely to answer at lea
st six questions correctly (p = .03 each, logistic regression). Parent
al knowledge of substance use, particularly of alcohol, remains inadeq
uate. We suggest that appropriate parental education tools are still n
eeded for optimal primary prevention of substance use by inner-city ch
ildren.