Results

Obtaining Informed Consent to Participate in Research from Mentally Retarded Adults
Celia B. Fisher
A researcher obtains informed consent from mentally retarded adults who maintain the legal right to consent to such decisions and permission from legal guardians when necessary (with assent from the participants). Fisher presents this as an example of best practice.

Full Disclosure: Use of Control Groups in Behavioral Intervention Research
Celia B. Fisher
Fearing that parents of children who are in the control group of a school-based substance abuse intervention study will feel slighted, a researcher does not mention the intervention– only the questionnaire – in the control group parental permission form. Fisher presents this as an example of poor research practice.

Potential Inability to Provide Informed Consent Due to Substance Abuse
Celia B. Fisher
Researchers develop creative ways to evaluate the consent of participants whose capacity to give truly informed consent may be compromised due to substance use and/or other comorbid disorders. Fisher presents this as an example of best practice.

Music Therapy
Brian Schrag
A participant in a low-risk, non-therapeutic study on the genetics and pathophysiology of schizophrenia appears confused. The graduate research assistant collecting data from her is unsure if she is competent to consent to research participation.