Personalidade e outros preditores do consumo de álcool na gravidez em Portugal

: um estudo exploratório

Abstract

The main purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the patterns of alcohol consumption during pregnancy in a group of Portuguese pregnant women and explore possible predictors of alcohol consumption, namely personality traits. The methodology used was quantitative and data were collected through an Online Questionnaire which includes four instruments: Form of Sociodemographic and Pregnancy Questions, the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), the 10-item Personality Inventory (TIPI - P) and the Scale of Attitudes about Pregnancy and Motherhood (EAGM) which is not an integral part of this work. The main results confirm that Portuguese pregnant women consume alcohol during pregnancy. There are highly significant differences between the frequency and amount of alcohol consumption before and during pregnancy, with a decrease in consumption during pregnancy. Despite the existence of a decrease in alcohol consumption, we found that women do not comply with national and international guidelines regarding abstinence from alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and many are unaware of the existence of guidelines, which partly explains the behavior of Portuguese pregnant women. We also explored possible predictors of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and thus we found that the most prominent predictors were previous alcohol consumption, higher educational level of the pregnant woman, and higher maternal age. In addition, the integration of personality dimensions as predictors of alcohol consumption during pregnancy makes the present work innovative. To our knowledge, this is the first time that at the national level personality traits are studied as predictors of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The results showed that the only predictor variable of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is the "Extraversion" dimension. As part of a larger study, this work hopes to contribute to a greater knowledge and information on this phenomenon in Portugal.

Date of Award	11 Jul 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria Xavier (Supervisor)