Empirically supported ethical research practice: the costs and benefits of research from the participants' view

Researchers and institutional review boards are routinely called upon to evaluate the cost-benefit status of proposed research protocols that involve human participants. Often these assessments are based on subjective judgments in the absence of empirical data. This reliance on subjective judgments is of particular concern for studies involving clinical samples where unfounded assumptions may adversely affect research progress or clinical outcomes. The Reactions to Research Participation Questionnaire (RRPQ) was designed to address this shortcoming and to help promote ethical decision making about research practice. The present study describes development of the RRPQ and presents a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses investigating its structure. Based on these findings, a revised version of the instrument and suggestions for future research are presented. This approach provides a foundation for scientifically informed protection of human subjects.     

Aging mothers and aging daughters: life-long caring and intellectual disability

While aging and caring are well-discussed in academic literature, the association among aging, caring and intellectual disability is less well documented. This paper draws on a recently completed Australian study which focuses on such mother/daughter relationships and whose narratives form the framework for an argument for a re-imagining of the concept of care for aged people with intellectual disability. Specifically, using a genealogical approach, the paper describes how powerful discourses at the time of the daughter's birth (1940s and 1950s)--associated with eugenics, institutional care and motherhood--are framing the way in which aging mothers are now contemplating the future care for their adult (and also aging) daughters.     

The Power Equity Guide: attending to gender in family therapy

In the past two decades, feminist scholars have challenged the field of family therapy to incorporate the organizing principle of gender in its theory, practice, and training. In this paper, we introduce a training, research, and therapeutic tool that provides guidance for addressing or observing gender and power differentials in the practice of family therapy. As a training tool, the Power Equity Guide helps trainees to translate their theoretical understanding of feminist principles into specific behaviors in therapy. Researchers and supervisors can use the Power Equity Guide to evaluate the practice of gender-informed family therapy. We also provide specific suggestions for its use by trainers, supervisors, therapists, and researchers.     

Spiritual ecomaps: a new diagrammatic tool for assessing marital and family spirituality

This paper develops a new diagrammatic spiritual assessment tool, the spiritual ecomap, for use with individuals, couples, and families. While a genogram portrays a family's history over time, a spiritual ecomap provides a valuable supplement by depicting a family's current relationships to critical ecological systems in space. The spiritual ecomap is based upon an anthropological framework conceptualized in the spiritual formation tradition and can be used with families from diverse spiritual traditions. I use a case study to familiarize the reader with the instrument, and offer suggestions for its application.     

The influence of marital and family therapy on health care utilization in a health-maintenance organization

Research has shown that people reduce their use of health care after individual psychotherapy. However, little research has been done to learn if marital and family therapy has a similar effect. Subjects (n = 292) from a health-maintenance organization were randomly selected according to the type of therapy they had received. Subjects' medical records were examined for 6 months before, during, and after therapy. Those who received marital and family therapy significantly reduced their use of health care services by 21.5%. These results show an "offset effect" for marriage and family therapy.     

Individual and crossover effects of stress on adjustment in medical student marriages

High-stress individuals may benefit from social support, although their support providers may be adversely affected via stress crossover effects. Individual and crossover effects of perceived stress within medical student marriages (n = 30) were investigated. Perceived spousal support was positively associated with individuals' own marital and emotional adjustment, attenuating stress effects. With regard to crossover effects, medical students' perceived stress was significantly associated with their spouses' emotional adjustment. Further, medical students' own emotional adjustment fully mediated this crossover effect. Results suggest that the contagion of negative affect may serve as a key mechanism through which stress crossover effects operate in marriage.     

Internship training in marriage and family therapy: a survey of doctoral program objectives and implementation

This article presents the results of a survey that examined the implementation of the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) internship requirement by accredited doctoral Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) programs. Representatives from each of 10 doctoral MFT programs provided responses to questions regarding program objectives for internship training. Respondents also provided subjective impressions regarding the effectiveness with which established internship goals are accomplished, associated benefits and difficulties, and adequacy of the standards. Results suggest that although most programs perceive the internship requirement as beneficial, many express concern regarding the effects of the internship requirement on other aspects of training and in relationship to the overall goals for doctoral MFT education. Conclusions and recommendations are offered based on the mixed findings.     

Correlation bias in U.S. census adjustment

One form of error that can affect census adjustments is correlation bias, reflecting people who are doubly missing--from the census and from the adjusted counts as well. This article presents a method for estimating the total national number of doubly-missing people and their distribution by race and sex. Application to the 1990 U.S. census adjustment leads to an estimate of 3 million doubly-missing people. Correlation bias is likely to be a serious problem for census adjustment in 2000. The methods of this article are well suited for measuring its magnitude.     

Assessing the impact of administrative policy on use of deadly force by on- and off-duty police

Deadly force research typically does not distinguish between shootings by on-duty and off-duty police. This article uses Philadelphia police shooting data from two time periods (1970-1978 and 1987-1992) and a unique quasi-experimental design to examine the comparative effects upon on- and off-duty police shootings of an administrative policy that limited police shooting discretion but that did not address questions of police weapons carrying and access to firearms. The article draws important distinctions between when to shoot and carry administrative policies and considers their impact on deadly force by on- and off-duty police.