Introduction
Pregnancy is a special period in women’s lives and while for some women it represents a time to increase their health and safety strategies for protecting themselves and their unborn babies, for others this period is solely stressful as they are trying to cope with their substance use. The alcohol and drug consumption among pregnant women is an increasingly concerning issue, as it affects both the child-bearing women’s health and the development of the fetus and later, of the child. This essay examines three research articles that discuss the effects of alcohol and drug use during and after pregnancy, assessing the quality of the conducted research, the relevance of the used methodology and the article’s contribution to the overall body of knowledge.
First Article
Brief presentation of the article
Mostly preoccupied with the effects of alcohol consumption during and after pregnancy on children, Sandra W. Jacobson explores several longitudinal studies that explain the relationship between child development and prenatal and postnatal parental alcohol exposure, in her article “Assessing the Impact of Maternal Drinking during and after Pregnancy”. The aim of the study is to differentiate the effects of prenatal drinking from the general impact of being raised in an environment wherein mothers use alcohol during and after pregnancy. There is not a direct research question within this research article, however, in developing her research, Jacobson focuses on identifying the relationship between improper socio-cognitive and behavioral development and alcoholic mothers.
Analysis of the research method
Evaluation tools and measure techniques
Analysis of strength and generalizability of the article
Overall, the article is significant to the body of knowledge related to the effects of substance use during and after pregnancy, although its strength mostly consists in the fact that it provides an insightful analysis of the already conducted studies, for serving the aim of the study. However, although it mainly focuses on the alcohol abuse of the mothers in pre and postnatal phases, it relates to the general problems caused by alcoholism and substance abuse on the child’s health, cognitive, social and behavioral development. Therefore, the research article is limited to presenting the effects of child-bearing women’s alcohol consumption upon their unborn babies, not discussing in detail the effects of drug consumption upon the fetus or the effects of alcohol and drug consumption in the postnatal phase.
References of visual expectancy paradigm in current research
The visual expectancy paradigm used in Jacobson’s (1997) research is retrieved from the psychological field of study, as it refers to individuals’ ability to perform certain tasks or activities outlining specific behavior, motivated by the belief of receiving expected rewards (Vroom, 1964 in Crowther & Green, 2004). The individual’s efforts and the individual’s performances are related with the desired outcomes, and this relationship generates high performance from the individual’s side (Mukherjee, 2005). Applied to Jacobson’s study, Vroom’s expectancy theory indicates the likelihood of child-bearing mothers to deliver babies with health deficiencies, according to a social outcome. However, in the case of the pregnant women who consume alcohol, this theory is inconsistent, because the pregnant women do not change their behavior for receiving expected rewards. This is why the expectancy theory was adapted into the visual expectancy paradigm, which, in the case of the pregnant women who consume alcohol explains how the expected alcohol consumption influences child-bearing women’s fetus development (Fitzgerald, Lester & Zuckerman, 2000).
The visual expectancy paradigm properly delineates fetus’ evolution in laboratory environment, indicating the effects of alcohol consumption upon their development, making Jacobson’s used analysis method relevant for understanding the expected negative results that pregnant women are likely to induce to their unborn babies if they consume alcohol during pregnancy.
Second Article
Brief presentation of the article
Another article related to alcohol and drug abuse during pregnancy, written by Heather Gatny, Jennifer Barber and Yasamin Kusunoki (2013) and entitled “Young Women and Substance Use during Pregnancy: The Role of Social Support” also discusses about the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on mothers and babies, but it mainly focuses on the care required to prevent the substance abuse. Therefore, the aim of the article is to investigate the relationship between social support and the substance use among pregnant women, for assessing whether the spouse, family, or friends influence the substance use or the abstinence from substance abuse during pregnancy. The authors of this article also did not include a research question for their study, but they posed a hypothesis, according to which pregnant women’s likelihood to consume alcohol or drugs is reduced during the time when they benefit of a social support and during the time when their social support network is bigger (Gatny, Barber & Kusunoki, 2013).
Analysis of the research method
In accordance with this hypothesis, the authors further develop the article by presenting the research methods and data used for testing the article’s hypothesis. Gatny, Barber and Kusonky (2013) introduce the research method, which is the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) and explain it as a journal based research design. They clearly describe the sample’s size (1.003 women) and characteristics (18-19 years, living in the Midwestern United States), plus the data collection tools, which specifies that the interview was used between 2008 and 2009 to assess familial and personality aspects of the participants. Plus, the survey was used after the interview phase, for supporting the RDSL methodology, which consisted in assessing the participants in a weekly journal-based study that lasted 2.5 years. Therefore, the methodological design used was a mixed one, comprising qualitative and quantitative assessment techniques.
Evaluation tools and measure techniques
Analysis of strength and generalizability of the article
Although for the investigated relationship between social support and the prevention or reduction of substance abuse during pregnancy the article is highly relevant and consistent, the research findings only slightly contribute to understanding the effects of drug and alcohol use during and after pregnancy. Consistent with other studies, this research article suggests that the effects of drug and alcohol use during and after pregnancy affect the familial relationship, the child-parents relationship and the child’s development. However, the authors’ focus is on reducing all these outcomes by reducing the pregnant women’s substance use through social support, not on the effects of substance consumption during and after pregnancy.
Use of RDSL in current research practices
The research design utilized in this study, the RDSL methodology, is an original research approach, which incorporates interviews and surveys. Because the research incorporated a number of 1003 women, the conducted surveys had the role of supporting a quantitative research (Belk, 2007). Moreover, the survey is considered a quantitative research technique in this case also because it were conducted on a weekly basis, including standard questions for the participants of the study. On the other hand, the interview used as part of RDSL methodology was a qualitative research technique, because, although it assessed 1003 study participants, it approached each participant individually in terms of relationship and personal background, having the value of a depth interview (Nargundkar, 2003)
The journal-based research, conducted weekly and related to the survey technique has both a qualitative and quantitative value. It has a quantitative value precisely because it relates to the survey, answering the survey’s questions on a weekly basis, which sum-up to a considerable number of journal entries. On the other hand it has a qualitative value because the participants’ entries are different, expressing the individual weekly experiences of each investigated person.
The journal-based research is an original technique which contributes to developing an innovative research methodology (the RDSL). This research methodology mixes qualitative (interview and journal-based technique) and quantitative techniques (survey and journal-based technique) and standard research techniques (interview and survey) with innovative, original research technique (journal-based research) for developing a customized research. The Relationship Dynamics and Social Life research method fits the research topic, contributing to the effective understanding of the relationship between the substance consumption (alcohol, cigarettes and drugs) among pregnant women and their support received from spouse or partner, family and friends.
Third Article
Brief presentation of the article
Rather than developing an independent study, the article “The Clinical Content of Preconception Care: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Illicit Drug Exposure”, written by multiple writers: R. Louise Floyd, Brian, W. Jack, Roberto Cefalo, Hani Atrash, Jeanne Mahoney, Anne Herron, Corinne Husten and Robert J. Sokol (2008) exposes findings from already existent research studies for describing the effects of substance abuse on child-bearing aged women and for recommending preventive actions. This article presents no research question either and lacks a clear methodological design.
Analysis of the research method
In fact, its structure is the cause for which the article does not enjoy an integrated methodological or data analysis design. As such, the authors of this article treat separately the alcohol consumption, smoking and drug use among pregnant women, and for each of them they use different methodological approaches to identify their effects on mothers and on children. However, the methodology of the article is based on a qualitative design, evidence-based methods for screening the harmful consumption behaviors during pregnancy and intervening through recommended health care treatments.
Evaluation tools and measure techniques
The conclusion of the article is brief and comprehensive, summarizing the findings in an informed manner, as it refers to both the effects of alcohol, smoking and substance use during pregnancy and to the preventive measures and the expected results.
Analysis of strength and generalizability of the article
Overall, the article enriches the body of knowledge regarding the effects of alcohol and drug during and after pregnancy, as it structurally and accurately describes how substance abuse during impact the health of child and of mother. The postnatal effects are also discussed, although in a secondary plan, as the authors link the substance abuse on the postnatal phase with health risks, “neurodevelopmental deficits and mental retardation” (Floyd et al., 2008, p. 334).
Use of evidence-based method in current research practices
The evidence-based methodology used in this article consists in applying scientific research for reaching consistent findings according to which there can be created strategies to cope with the identified risks and decisions to approach and treat the assessed problems (Malloch & Porter-O’Grady, 2010).
The evidence-based methodology is a very popular research method used in the healthcare domain, integrating the available evidence, retrieved from scientific research, within the existent body of knowledge, for constructing specific judgments benefiting different stakeholders (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2011).
In Floyd et al.’s (2008) article, the evidence-based research method incorporates studies that applied scientific research (TWEAK, T-ACE, AUDIT, CRAFFT and other medical and psychological tests) for assessing the patients’ (child-bearing women and their unborn or born babies) medical and psychological problems caused by alcohol, cigarette or drug consumption during and after pregnancy. Acknowledging the fact that pregnant women may not report their substance consumption problems for fear of legal persecution, out of shame or stigma, Bryson and Frost (2012) indicate that evidence-based screening tools are effective for identifying behavioral patterns that indicate substance consumption problems among child-bearing women. Developed from evidence-based methodology, evidence –based healthcare practice contributes to reducing the behavioral patterns that lead to substance, cigarette or drug consumption, comprising interventions and social support to reduce substance use and to improve the healthy habits (Champan & Durham, 2010).
Major Findings and Evaluation of Methods Used
The examined research articles, related to the alcohol and drug consumption during and after pregnancy contributed to the existent body of knowledge, enriching it because of their diverse approaches. Nevertheless, each analyzed article had limitations in providing findings consistent with this specific research topic – the effects of alcohol and drug consumption during and after pregnancy. As such, in her article, Jacobson only researched the effects of alcohol consumption during and after pregnancy, and although they were consistent for her research, the findings were limited for the investigated topic of this project, as it did not address the effects of drug consumption during and after pregnancy. Regarding the methodology used, Jacobson’s article applied the visual expectancy paradigm, relevant and aligned with the investigated issue, as it reflected the effects of alcohol consumption on the fetus development. The second article, the one created by Gatny, Barber and Kusunoki (2013) introduced a new research method, the RDSL, which contributed to developing an original research, applying a custom-made methodology, suited for the study’s theme: the relationship between substance consumption reduction and social support. However, the research was limited for the developed project’s subject, as it only presented the effects of alcohol and drug consumption in a secondary context. The final article, developed by Floyd et al. (2008) was more related with the investigated subject, although the information about the effects of substance use during pregnancy were presented as background context for the evidence-based intervention methods to reduce the substance-consumption and its outcomes among child-bearing women. The evidence-based methodology was identified as a suitable research method for the medical and psychological subjects.
References
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