Introduction to Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology. Robert Weis

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      Weighing Benefits vs. Risks

      The two most important ethical principles that guide all helping professions are beneficence and nonmaleficence. Beneficence involves balancing the benefits of one’s actions against the risks or costs involved; nonmaleficence means avoiding harm or inflicting the least discomfort possible to reach a beneficial outcome. When conducting research, psychologists must weigh the benefits of the study against the possible harm or discomfort that participants might experience by participating in it.

      First, a study must have clear potential benefits that outweigh possible costs. For example, Dr. Hall might want to examine the effects of a school-based behavior therapy program for young children with ADHD. The potential benefits of this treatment include improvements in children’s attention, behavior, and academic skills. These benefits must outweigh the possible costs of participation, such as missed class time. Second, studies that cause extreme distress or physical harm are not permitted, even if they have the potential to be scientifically informative. For example, a researcher could not deny children with ADHD access to effective medications or other treatments simply to examine the long-term effects of ADHD on their development and academic outcomes.

      Gaining Parental Consent and Child Assent

      Another important ethical principle is autonomy, that is, people’s right to make informed decisions about their lives. To respect autonomy, psychologists gain participants’ consent throughout the research process. Informed consent in research means that participants are aware of the purpose and nature of the study and freely agree to participate in it (American Psychological Association, 2017a).

      According to the APA Ethics Code, Dr. Hall must provide the following information to participants so that they can make an informed decision regarding their involvement in the study:

      Information about the purpose of the study, its duration, and procedures;

      The fact that the study is voluntary and participants can withdraw from it at any time;

      Possible risks associated with participating;

      Possible research benefits that might be gained;

      Other incentives (such as money) associated with participating;

      A description of who will have access to their data; and

      An opportunity to ask additional questions about the study.

      Consent should be viewed as a process that occurs throughout participants’ involvement in the study. Dr. Hall should make sure that her participants are always aware that they are free to withdraw their consent at any time without penalty. Participants must also have ample opportunities to ask questions about the study if they feel unsure about any aspects of their participation (Lasser & Gottlieb, 2018).

      Researchers who conduct studies with ethnic minority families must take special care to respect participants’ autonomy and social–cultural backgrounds. For example, Dr. Hall must make sure that she provides information to participants using language that they understand. She must also avoid pressuring families into participating, either by offering excessive incentives (e.g., large sums of money) or implicitly threatening to deny benefits (e.g., limiting their child’s access to services at school). Dr. Hall must also be mindful of the importance of respecting the privacy of families who might be undocumented or who have experienced mistreatment in their countries of origin (Fisher et al., 2017).

      Children and adolescents may not be able to consent to research because of their minor status. When conducting research involving children and adolescents, psychologists first obtain consent from their parents or legal caregivers. Then, they obtain assent from the child. Child assent involves explaining the study’s purpose and procedures to children using language that they understand, communicating that their participation is voluntary and that they can withdraw at any time, and answering any questions they might have about the study.

      Respecting Confidentiality

      Recall that confidentiality is the expectation that information disclosed by participants will not be shared with others without their consent. Confidentially is essential to research; it increases participants’ willingness to provide accurate and honest information.

      The right to confidentiality is not absolute. In some cases, psychologists are required to break confidentiality and disclose information to protect the welfare of others. These limits of confidentiality include instances of child abuse or neglect, suicidal thoughts or actions, and the intention to harm others.

      In many jurisdictions, children and adolescents do not have a right to confidentiality because of their minor status. Technically, their parents have the right to access any information that they provide. However, researchers typically try to encourage parents to respect their children’s confidentiality by not accessing information without justification.

      Avoiding Deception

      Deception occurs when researchers deliberately provide false or incomplete information to participants in order to mislead them. According to the APA Ethics Code, researchers must not deceive participants unless the deception is justified by the study’s significant scientific value and other, nondeceptive techniques are not feasible (American Psychological Association, 2017a).

      For example, Seymour, Macatee, and Chronis-Tuscano (2018) wanted to know if children with ADHD are less able to tolerate frustration than their peers without ADHD. They asked children with and without ADHD to play a computer game in which they must trace a figure using a computer mouse. To elicit СКАЧАТЬ