The greater levels of alcohol consumption in the retrospective maternal self report in the current study are consistent with prior research in pregnant women with inter-report intervals ranging from one to twenty weeks within the same pregnancy (e.g., Alvik, et al., 2006a; 2006b; Little, 1976; Little, et al., 1977; Robles & Day, 1990; Streissguth, et al., 1976), or from 3 months to almost 5 years post-partum (Alvik, 2006a; 2006b; Ernhart, et al., 1988; Jacobson, et al., 1991; 2002). Another study assessing 5-year recall in a sample of non-pregnant gynecology outpatients also found that retrospective report of alcohol consumption was higher than the current report (Czarnecki, et al., 1990). The work by Jacobson et al. (1991; 2002) in a cohort very similar to ours found retrospectively reported drinking was 4.5 times higher than their average antenatal report, which included peri-conceptional (i.e., pre-pregnancy) drinking, and identified >3 times more women as “at risk” drinkers than the antenatal report. Although the categories of drinking levels varied between that study and the current analyses, the pattern and extent of differences between antenatal and retrospective
