Withholding Information

1
Withholding Information

• A Case Study

2

• Dr. Jones is a counseling psychologist who has
  received funding to develop and test an
  intervention to prevent child abuse among
  pregnant women in outpatient drug treatment
  programs. Many current and recovering
  substance-abusing women are at risk for abusing
  their children due to difficult life
  circumstances and a lack of personal and
  financial resources to cope with the demands of a
  young child.

3

• Prior research has identified economic and
  psychosocial factors associated with child
  maltreatment, including personal childhood
  experiences of maltreatment, poor mental and
  physical health, lack of social support, limited
  education, and limited knowledge of infant
  development. Yet little research has been done to
  test intervention programs with mothers who abuse
  substances to determine whether child abuse rates
  can be decreased.

4

• Dr. Jones plans use the Parenting Stress Index
  and a test of knowledge of child development to
  identify mothers who are at risk of abusing their
  children. Those who are at risk would then be
  randomized to receive the experimental
  intervention, which involves counseling, a brief
  education program on child development, and
  regular social work visits or to receive social
  work visits alone.

5

• To maximize benefits to all participants, after
  six months control group participants would
  receive the full experimental treatment, which is
  expected to be superior to social work visits
  alone.
• The dependent variables are (1) predictors of
  risk (i.e., scores on the Parenting Stress Index
  and knowledge of child development) and (2) signs
  of child abuse and neglect.
• The social work visits would have two purposes
  (1) to provide additional resources tailored to
  the participants needs, and (2) to look for
  signs of child abuse and neglect in the home.

6

• Dr. Jones mentions in her proposal to the IRB
  that participants will be told that the study is
  a parenting services program but their data might
  be used in a quality assurance study. She does
  not want to inform them of the real purpose of
  the study because she believes some might decline
  to participate out of fear that their children
  could be taken away and because labeling them as
  at risk of abusing their children is
  stigmatizing.

7

• She argues that the risks of non-disclosure are
  far outweighed by the potential benefits to
  children. She is also adamant that she will
  protect the confidentiality of the data to
  protect the women from any potential legal or
  social harm.
• As an IRB member, would you vote to approve the
  study?

8
Passive Consent

• A Case Study

9

• A research firm was contracted by a school
  system to identify and then assist children who
  were at risk for drug abuse. Sixth and
  seventh-grade students were to fill out lengthy
  questionnaires that delved into sensitive and
  private issues relating to sexual experience,
  depression, suicidal ideation, drug use,
  experiences of abuse, and the childrens feelings
  and home lifeas well as developmental assets
  like friendship and healthy activities.

10

• The school sent each parent a letter informing
  them in very general terms of the program,
  extolling its purpose, requesting their
  cooperation and support, and noting that if they
  did not wish to participate in the program they
  should contact the school. The letter ended with,
  We will assume your cooperation unless otherwise
  notified by you.
• Is the use of passive consent in this case
  acceptable? Why or why not?

11
Research with Minors

• A Case Study

12

• Mr. and Mrs. Split express sharp disagreement in
  the assessment of their hospitalized teenage
  sons enrollment in a research project using
  aversive conditioning to eliminate his cocaine
  addiction. Mrs. Split vigorously rejects the idea
  of causing my boy any more pain than he has
  already endured. Mr. Split thinks that the
  project is a great idea and may ever make a
  man out of him as well.
• Whose wishes do you follow?