The aim of the ABLE project is to study awareness and knowledge of the alcohol warning label. According to the Surgeon general, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. High school students from a county in the Midwest were surveyed each year from the fall of 1989, before the label was required, to the fall of 1995. Students completed questionnaires assessing their exposure to, beliefs about, memory for, and awareness of the alcohol warning label. Additionally, drug history, self-reported drinking and driving behavior, and knowledge of fetal alcohol syndrome were measured.
Initial findings indicate that memory, exposure, and awareness of the warning have increased.
Alcohol use, driving after drinking, and beliefs about the risks of drinking have not changed since implementation of the warning. The initial positive effects of the warning leveled off approximately 3.5 years after the inclusion of the warning on alcohol beverage containers. Earlier alcohol use was associated with later exposure to the warning but early exposure to the warning was not associated with later alcohol use. These results suggest that the warning is having the intended effect, as stated by the law requiring the warning, of informing and reminding persons of the risks associated with alcohol use. The warning does not appear to increase or decrease alcohol use.