Prevalence and factors related to alcohol consumption in pregnant adolescents. A systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: alcohol consumption during pregnancy causes physical, cognitive and behavioral problems in the mother and the unborn baby. The literature recommends abstinence from this substance during pregnancy. However, the presence of factors in adolescents could be related to the initiation or continuation of alcohol consumption while pregnant.

Objective: twas to identify the prevalence and factors that are related to alcohol consumption in pregnant adolescents (AE).

Method: a systematic review of articles in English and Spanish published between 2009 and 2019 in the adolescent population was carried out. The databases were PubMed, Web of Science: Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index, and Scopus. The search terms included the words “pregnancy,” “pregnant,” “adolescent,” “adolescence,” and “alcohol.” Data extraction was performed independently by one author using the study quality indicators.

Results: CADE prevalence’s in AE were determined. Also, personal, psychological and spiritual factors related to CADE. Alcohol consumption prior to pregnancy and exposure to the presence of previous pregnancies were the most mentioned as personal factors. Likewise, relationships of psychological factors such as depression and anxiety were identified. In addition, social factors were identified such as having a single parent, having friends who smoke or drink, as well as not having a partner. Finally, some spiritual factors were found, among which the importance given to religion stands out.

Conclusions: alcohol consumption during pregnancy is multifactorial, however, there are personal, psychological, social and spiritual factors that increase the risk of consuming alcohol up to four times more.