Prior research has documented an association
between prenatal father involvement and positive outcomes for maternal and child health, including increased prenatal care
usage, decreased smoking and
alcohol consumption, and a reduction in low birth weight, preterm birth, and infant mortality.
Fourth, the use of partner reports of their own
alcohol usage would have been optimal, however maternal reports of their partners
alcohol use were used because of 1) the rate of attrition in partner reporting, especially for the assessment at age 12 years, and 2) the very good inter-rater agreement
between parental reports of partners drinking practices.