ArticleDrug and alcohol review2026
Experience as Evidence: A Content Analysis of Reddit Discussions About Alcohol Use During Pregnancy.
Article in Drug and alcohol review, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionReddit is a space where people commonly discuss sensitive health-related topics and share experiences. We explore discussions relating to alcohol use during pregnancy to understand why people turn to platforms like Reddit for public health advice, and to identify potential lessons for public health.
methodsWe undertook a descriptive qualitative study, using directed content analysis, to explore 1654 Reddit comments that discussed alcohol and pregnancy, examining the purpose, positioning and use of evidence.
resultsComments primarily focussed on alcohol consumption while knowingly pregnant (57%) followed by comments about drinking before pregnancy recognition (35%). Comments were evenly split between those supporting (37%) and opposing (37%) alcohol use during pregnancy. A further 14% adopted a precautionary stance, and 11% expressed mixed views. Fifty-four percent of comments drew on some form of evidence, with anecdotal evidence most common (43%), followed by advice from health professionals (29%). Anecdotal accounts often involved personal experience used to justify conclusions about risk. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionsThe findings suggest that Reddit functions as a widely used platform for peer-to-peer exchange of knowledge and experiences regarding alcohol consumption, particularly while knowingly pregnant. Taken together, these findings help explain why individuals may turn to platforms like Reddit for pregnancy-related advice-such spaces offer accessibility, immediacy, and a diversity of perspectives, alongside opportunities for emotional support and normalisation of experience. However, the relatively limited use of scientific evidence suggests an ongoing gap in effective knowledge translation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.