Pregnancy, alcohol intake, and intimate partner violence among men and women attending drinking establishments in a Cape Town, South Africa township.

Eaton, Lisa A

Kalichman, Seth C

Sikkema, Kathleen J

Skinner, Donald

Watt, Melissa H

Pieterse, Desiree

Pitpitan, Eileen V

Netherlands

2012-12-19T19:43:56Z

2012-02

The highest rates of fetal alcohol syndrome worldwide can be found in South Africa. Particularly in impoverished townships in the Western Cape, pregnant women live in environments where alcohol intake during pregnancy has become normalized and interpersonal violence (IPV) is reported at high rates. For the current study we sought to examine how pregnancy, for both men and women, is related to alcohol use behaviors and IPV. We surveyed 2,120 men and women attending drinking establishments in a township located in the Western Cape of South Africa. Among women 13.3% reported being pregnant, and among men 12.0% reported their partner pregnant. For pregnant women, 61% reported attending the bar that evening to drink alcohol and 26% reported both alcohol use and currently experiencing IPV. Daily or almost daily binge drinking was reported twice as often among pregnant women than non-pregnant women (8.4% vs. 4.2%). Men with pregnant partners reported the highest rates of hitting sex partners, forcing a partner to have sex, and being forced to have sex. High rates of alcohol frequency, consumption, binge drinking, consumption and binge drinking were reported across the entire sample. In general, experiencing and perpetrating IPV were associated with alcohol use among all participants except for men with pregnant partners. Alcohol use among pregnant women attending shebeens is alarmingly high. Moreover, alcohol use appears to be an important factor in understanding the relationship between IPV and pregnancy. Intensive, targeted, and effective interventions for both men and women are urgently needed to address high rates of drinking alcohol among pregnant women who attend drinking establishments.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21744297

1573-3610

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6062

eng

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

J Community Health

10.1007/s10900-011-9438-7

Journal of Community Health

Adult

Alcohol Drinking

Cross-Sectional Studies

Ethanol

Female

Humans

Male

Pregnancy

Pregnant Women

Sex Offenses

Social Behavior

South Africa

Spouse Abuse

Pregnancy, alcohol intake, and intimate partner violence among men and women attending drinking establishments in a Cape Town, South Africa township.

Journal article

1

37

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21744297

208

216

1

Center for Child and Family Policy

Clinical Science Departments

Duke

Duke Population Research Center

Duke Population Research Institute

Global Health Institute

Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Medical Psychology

Psychology and Neuroscience

Sanford School of Public Policy

School of Medicine

Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

University Institutes and Centers

Published

37