Preventing fetal alcohol exposure: a cognitive behavioral approach.

Fetal alcohol exposure is a serious social and public health problem. However, most prevention programs in this area are solely informational. Important gaps in both understanding processes which underlie alcohol consumption during pregnancy and in the design of interventions to prevent fetal alcohol exposure are discussed. We argue that an important group missed by current interventions are women for whom abstinence is difficult, but who are not physically addicted. Cognitive behavioral interventions are proposed as appropriate for this target group. Recommendations for future directions in the area of fetal alcohol exposure are discussed.