Ethical challenges in mental health research among internally displaced people: ethical theory and research implementation

Advancements in mental health research, social changes and policy developments have led to the emergence of new forms of research partnerships, which bring together research institutions, public companies and lay people as partners in the same research project. In this paper, we argue that partnerships comprised of industry, academia and people with experience of mental illness may present practical and ethical challenges that affect the conduct of research and undermine public trust in research collaborations. We outline a number of ethical problems from the motivation to combine competing interests and values of these diverse research partners. We argue that while critical perspectives on each of the partnership forms outlined above exist in the literature, the combination of industry, research and PPI actors in partnership in mental health research has not received sufficient scrutiny. We suggest that a robust ethical approach is needed to properly substantiate the value of such research partnerships, to inform practical and ethical guidance on potential conflicts and to facilitate productive collaborative research.

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Ethical challenges in mental health research with focus in Nepal

Health Prospect ◽

10.3126/hprospect.v17i1.19869 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 8-11

Author(s):

Pratik Khanal ◽

Sajana Maharjan

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Human Rights ◽

Study Design ◽

Health Research ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Mental Health Research ◽

Health Problems ◽

Vulnerable Population ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Ethical Guidelines

People with mental health problems are considered as vulnerable population by national ethical guidelines of health research in Nepal. There are different ethical challenges in research involving people with mental health problems. Ethical challenges are related to study design, autonomy, beneficence and nonmaleficence, justice, respect for the environment and consent taking process. Respecting the human rights of those with mental health problems is necessary during research and this requires research stakeholders to be responsible.

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Psychiatric Morbidity among Internally Displaced People in Ethiopia

10.21203/rs.3.rs-116775/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yaregal Fufa Eba ◽

Jemal Ebrahim Shifa

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Psychiatric Morbidity ◽

Living Condition ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Internally Displaced ◽

Internally Displaced People ◽

Prevalence Of Depression ◽

Displaced People

Abstract Background: Mental health problems in internally displaced people (IDP) can be triggered by either collective effect or individual effect of traumas experienced during Preflight, Flight, and Resettlement time. Higher level of depression and anxiety has been reported among IDPs globally while little is known in Ethiopia.Aims: To assess the prevalence of depression and anxiety among internally displaced people in Gedeo zone, Ethiopia, 2019.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among internally displaced communities settled in Gedeo Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Regional states (SNNPR) among randomly selected 421 displaced individuals. Data were collected using standard and structured tools and entered into Epi info version 7 and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 for analysis and descriptive statistics have been used to report the magnitude of the outcome. Logistic regression was considered to evaluate association between variables. Results: A total of 421 displaced persons completed the survey constituting a 99.5% response rate, of which 232 (55.1%) were males. Age of the study subjects ranged between 19 and 80 years, with a median of 33 years and ±11.8 SD. Higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders were found: depression 18.5% ((95% CI: (15.0, 22.3)), and anxiety 59.1% ((95% CI: (54.6, 63.9)). Tobacco use, female gender and age range from 19-30 years had statistically significant effect on the mental health outcomes of IDPs in the current study. Respondents’ marital condition, educational status, occupation, current living condition, social support status, as well as exposure status to physical and sexual violence were not significantly associated with both depression and anxiety. Conclusions: This assessment identified that the prevalence of depression and anxiety was high among internally displaced populations in the Gedeo zone. Clinical and psychosocial intervention is required.

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Reflections on Type III Error: Ethical Implications for Mental Health Research, Public Policy, and Population Health

Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry ◽

10.1891/ehpp-d-19-00006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 114-123

Author(s):

Margaret Walkover

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Research ◽

Public Health Research ◽

Mental Health Research ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Type Iii ◽

Ethical Implications ◽

Research Designs ◽

Population Mental Health ◽

The Right

This reflection comments on Type III error—how the misrecognition of causal factors shaping the onset, acuity, and duration of mental health symptoms may lead to the design of interventions that compromise the health of populations. Type III error reveals the ethical challenges of research designs that answer the wrong question. The argument offered by Schwartz and Carpenter in their 1999 article, “The right answer for the wrong question: consequences of Type III error for public health research,” is used as a foil to discuss ethical implications for population mental health.

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