Ethical and Legal Issues Addressing the Use of Mobile Health (mHealth) as an Adjunct to Psychotherapy

mHealth refers to the rapidly evolving use of mobile devices for health care treatment purposes, particularly the use of apps and texting as adjuncts to psychotherapy. Although there is currently an extensive literature on issues related to telehealth, to date little guidance has been developed to help professionals function ethically in the rapidly emerging area of mHealth. This article identifies the major ethical considerations that need attention and proposes several recommendations to address mHealth use as an adjunct to psychotherapy, including the pressing need for relevant American Psychological Association practice guidelines to assist mental health providers in the ethical implementation of mHealth.     

Cultural Effects Rather Than a Bilingual Advantage in Cognition: A Review and an Empirical Study

The bilingual advantage hypothesis contends that the management of two languages in the brain is carried out through domain‐general mechanisms, and that bilinguals possess a performance advantage over monolinguals on (nonlinguistic) tasks that tap these processes. Presently, there is evidence both for and against such an advantage. Interestingly, the evidence in favor has been thought strongest in children and older adults, leading some researchers to argue that young adults might be at peak performance levels, and therefore bilingualism is unable to confer an improvement. We conducted a large‐scale review of the extant literature and found that the weight of research pointed to an absence of positive evidence for a bilingual advantage at any age. We next gave a large number of young adult participants a task designed to test the bilingual advantage hypothesis. Reasoning from the literature that young adults from an East Asian (Korean) culture would likely outperform those from a Western (British) culture, we also compared participants on this factor. We found no evidence for a bilingual advantage but did find evidence for enhanced performance in the Korean group. We interpret these results as further evidence against the bilingual advantage hypotheses.     

Is (Merely) Stalking Sentient Animals Morally Wrong?

Such activities as tracking, watching, and photographing animals are frequently presented as morally superior alternatives to hunting, but could they themselves be morally problematic? In this paper I argue that, despite certain differences from the stalking of humans, a strong case can be made for the prima facie wrongness of stalking sentient animals. The chief harm of stalking is the fear and altered patterns of behaviour which it forces upon its victims. Similar harms arise for both human and non-human victims of stalking; thus I argue thatstalking animals is a prima facie, but overridable wrong. Still, a significant disanalogy between stalking humans and stalking animals can be seen in cases in which the victim is unaware of being stalked. I argue that such stalking is generally acceptable with respect to animals, but morally wrong with respect to humans. More generally, it is much harder to justify the stalking of humans than the stalking of animals, given the greater human interest in privacy.     

The Ethics of Opinion in Academe: Questions for an Ethical and Administrative Dilemma

If we accept that all plagiarism is wrong, the issue is black and white. But are there more challenging questions that color the issue with shades of gray that may influence or help clarify the ethical underpinnings of the act? Does intent matter? Does the venue matter? Does the form of writing matter? What about a professor when working as a private citizen, rather than in his/her academic role? Might plagiarism be mitigated when there is no associated financial gain? Is a writer’s history that exhibits impeccable ethical integrity relevant? Should these factors, and/or other factors, even be considered in a university’s administrative response — or non-response? What might employing an ethical approach contribute to wrestling with the dilemma? The authors explore critical issues that might face a senior academic administrator when confronting the need to respond on behalf of a university to a charge of plagiarism leveled by an influential newspaper against a university professor for a social responsibility-focused opinion-editorial published in this newspaper.     

The Influence of Positive Affect on the Decision Rule in Risk Situations: Focus on Outcome (and Especially Avoidance of Loss) Rather Than Probability

Two experiments examined the influence of positive affect on probability estimation and choice. Participants in whom positive affect had been induced, as well as no-manipulation controls, were asked to make both numerical evaluations of verbal probabilities in three-outcome gambles and actual betting decisions about similar gambles. Results from Experiment 1 showed the phenomenon labeledcautious optimism:Positive affect participants significantly overestimated the probabilities associated with phrases for winning relative to their estimates of probability of losing for the same phrases (optimism), while participants in a control condition did not; yet, in actual gambling situations, affect condition participants were much less likely to gamble than were controls when a real loss was possible (caution). Results of the betting task from Experiment 2 further indicated that affect participants used a betting-decision rule that was different from that of controls: They bet less than controls in gambles where potential losses were large, even though probability of loss was small, and they bet more than controls in gambles where the amount of the potential loss was small, even though the probability of loss was moderate or large. These findings suggest that positive affect can promote an overt shift from a decision rule focusing primarily on probabilities to one focusing on utilities or outcome values, especially for losses. Taken together, the results are compatible with an interpretation of the influence of positive affect in terms of an elaboration of positive cognitive material, and purposive behavior in decisions, rather than in terms of mere response bias.     

Evidence-Based Ethical Problem Solving (EBEPS)

ABSTRACT— Although there is usually agreement about the ethical principles that should govern human research, there may be little agreement on how those principles should be interpreted into research procedures in some instances. Empirical research on ethical issues can often elucidate ways to improve on existing research practices and resolve debates with one's institutional review board.     

Community Psychology Is (Thank God) More Than Science

Thinking about Community Psychology primarily as a science may make it harder, rather than easier, to embrace certain aspects of the field to which we are deeply committed, but usually fall outside the conventional meaning of doing science. While community psychologists use (and expand) the tools of science, this is different than saying that Community Psychology is only, or even primarily, a science. The field is just as much social criticism as it is science. In order to further conversation about these matters, seven thoughts about why (thank God) community psychology is more than a science are offered, the most basic of which is that today the greatest danger to freedom is not in the union of church and state, but in the union of science and state.Based on a paper presented at a Symposium, A. Wandersman (Chair), Science and Community Psychology, Held at the 9th Biennial Meeting of the Society for Community Research and Action, June, 2003, Las Vegas, New Mexico.     

胚胎植入前遗传学诊断(PGD)的伦理思考

针对现在研究者往往关注胚胎的生理质量而忽视伦理选择的现象,用伦理的视角审视实施胚胎植入前遗传学诊断(PGD)的行为,赋予生命科学行为必要的伦理思想.综合各种理论流派的观点,结合临床工作,得出人们在伦理道德上比较容易接受PGD中进行胚胎的优选的结论,用以指导PGD的发展.     

人类胚胎干细胞研究的伦理准则(建议稿)

20 0 1年 1 0月 1 6日通过2 0 0 2年 8月 2 0日修改人类胚胎干细胞 (ＥＳ)研究是 2 1世纪生物医学科学领域的一大前沿课题。由于这项研究涉及人体胚胎的使用 ,因而引发了激烈的伦理之争。反对者认为 ,胚胎是人类生命的雏形 ,理应受到尊重而不该加以破坏。但大多数科学家支持胚胎干细胞研究 ,认为胚胎干细胞研究可为治愈那些至今仍属不治之症的疾病提供美好前景从而造福人类。国家人类基因组南方研究中心伦理、法律和社会问题研究部的伦理委员会 ,认真讨论了胚胎干细胞所引发的伦理之争。我们认为 ,为了“医乃仁术”这个崇高的事业 ,应该支持…     

人类干细胞之伦理原则与监管政策（上）

本文分两大部分。第一部分从干细胞的功能、来源与社会争议性3种角度划分了人类干细胞的种类,并讨论与人类干细胞研究及临床应用相关的9条伦理原则,特别强调了西方国家对胚胎捐赠在知情同意方面的伦理耍求。第二部分讨论了制定监管人类干细胞研究的3个原则,并简单地介绍了在英美各国监管的情况,其中较详细地评论了英国的种种立法过程、设立的法定机构和执行的种种政策与机制,作为在我国讨论类似政策参考之用。     

Ethical implications of implantable radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags in humans

This article reviews the use of implantable radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags in humans, focusing on the VeriChip (VeriChip Corporation, Delray Beach, FL) and the associated VeriMed patient identification system. In addition, various nonmedical applications for implanted RFID tags in humans have been proposed. The technology offers important health and nonhealth benefits, but raises ethical concerns, including privacy and the potential for coercive implantation of RFID tags in individuals. A national discussion is needed to identify the limits of acceptable use of implantable RFID tags in humans before their use becomes widespread and it becomes too late to prevent misuse of this useful but ethically problematic technology.     

人类干细胞之伦理原则与监管政策(下)

4监管人类干细胞研究政策与组织 由于人类干细胞的研究牵涉大量上述的伦理道德问题,大部分的西方国家都纷纷通过立法强制监管这方面的研究,并且设立相关的机关执行一套详尽与完善的监管程序.甚至看来政策有点混乱的美国,因为政府的态度太过保守,以至国会与参议院无法达成共识,通过有关法案,但事实上今天美国干细胞的研究人员,尽管他们不能获得联邦政府在经费上的资助,但他们的研究活动却处处受到联邦政府不同的部门的监管.     

艾滋病暴露前用药的伦理学思考

目前有研究提示艾滋病暴露前药物预防能潜在降低感染风险,如果其有效性得到证实将有很大应用前景.然而处于临床阶段的PrEP正面临一系列伦理问题,如性耻感的消解,性行为去抑制,知情与隐私权,受试者生命安全、知情同意、经济承受力.解决好这些伦理问题,是这项新策略顺利进行的重要保障.     

Addressing Spiritual Issues in Secular Counseling and Psychotherapy: Response to Helminiak's (2001) Views

D. A. Helminiak (2001) suggests that counselors who work within the framework of a client's chosen religious or spiritual perspective are illegitimately responding to spiritual issues in counseling. In contrast to this position, this article affirms that spiritually sensitive counselors who work within the religious or spiritual framework of clients can practice both ethically and effectively and can generate useful research examining the relationship between spirituality and successful therapeutic outcomes.     

Salesperson Corporate Ethical Values (SCEV) Scale: Development and Assessment among Salespeople

This study has two purposes. First, we constructed a multidimensional psychometric scale, salesperson corporate ethical values (SCEV), to assess salespeople’s perceptions of corporate ethics, as well as their own ethics with customers and their organization. The resulting four-dimensional nine-item scale demonstrated reliability, as well as convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity in both training and validation samples. Second, using SCEV as the focal point, we theorized and tested a structural model with fi ve constructs. Results suggest that fairness, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors are positively related to SCEV, which, in turn, is positively associated with job satisfaction and performance.     

Accountability,Collaboration, and Social Change: Ethical Tensions in an Action Research Project to Address Untested Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs)

We conducted a collaborative action research project with stakeholders in Detroit, Michigan, to develop long‐term policy strategies to resolve ~11,000 untested rape kits that were discovered in a police storage facility in August 2009. In our research, we uncovered overwhelming evidence of victim‐blaming behaviors and fundamental disrespect of rape survivors by the police, which directly contributed to their decisions not to submit kits for forensic testing. We had an ethical responsibility to report these negative findings accurately and completely, and in doing so, we were concerned that police stakeholders might disengage from the action research project and hamper our other ethical responsibilities to promote general and public welfare. In this article, we examine the ethical challenges of balancing accountability, collaboration, and social change.     

An Ethical Issue Scale for Community Pharmacy Setting (EISP): Development and Validation

Many problems that arise when providing pharmacy services may contain some ethical components and the aims of this study were to develop and validate a scale that could assess difficulties of ethical issues, as well as the frequency of those occurrences in everyday practice of community pharmacists. Development and validation of the scale was conducted in three phases: (1) generating items for the initial survey instrument after qualitative analysis; (2) defining the design and format of the instrument; (3) validation of the instrument. The constructed Ethical Issue scale for community pharmacy setting has two parts containing the same 16 items for assessing the difficulty and frequency thereof. The results of the 171 completely filled out scales were analyzed (response rate 74.89 %). The Cronbach’s α value of the part of the instrument that examines difficulties of the ethical situations was 0.83 and for the part of the instrument that examined frequency of the ethical situations was 0.84. Test–retest reliability for both parts of the instrument was satisfactory with all Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values above 0.6, (for the part that examines severity ICC = 0.809, for the part that examines frequency ICC = 0.929). The 16-item scale, as a self assessment tool, demonstrated a high degree of content, criterion, and construct validity and test–retest reliability. The results support its use as a research tool to asses difficulty and frequency of ethical issues in community pharmacy setting. The validated scale needs to be further employed on a larger sample of pharmacists.