title: Ethical issues in psychosocial interventions research involving controls.
abstract: Psychiatric research is of critical importance in improving the care of persons with mental illness. Yet it may also raise difficult ethical issues. This article explores those issues in the context of a particular kind of research: psychosocial intervention research with control groups. We discuss 4 broad categories of ethical issues: consent, confidentiality, boundary violations, and risk-benefit issues. We believe that, despite the potential difficulties, psychosocial intervention research is vital and can be accomplished in an ethical manner. Further discussion and research into these issues are warranted.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California Law School, 699 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90089-0071, USA. esaks@law.usc.edu
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Saks
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Jeste
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Granholm
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schneiderman
mesh_terms: D035841:Behavioral Research; D003219:Confidentiality; D035061:Control Groups; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000009:adverse effects; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D016743:Mental Competency; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010919:Placebos; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012107:Research Design; D035844:Researcher-Subject Relations; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos
keywords: Biomedical and Behavioral Research; Mental Health Therapies