Guidelines and recommendations for training ethical alcohol researchers.

Abstract

Research on alcohol use presents several ethical challenges, and therefore, training of ethical alcohol researchers is particularly important. Although the Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association, 2001), the Belmont Report (National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, 1978), and the American Psychological Association’s (2002) ethics code provide ethical guidelines and aspirational principles for researchers, there are a number of areas in which these principles allow for judgment. For trainees in particular, this ambiguity may be disconcerting. Along with these broader principles, there are also specific considerations for training alcohol researchers in the responsible conduct of research, which may further complicate matters for trainees. Although alcohol research is an important avenue for understanding a large public health concern and investigating risk and protective factors associated with use, it also presents a number of ethical and legal challenges for researchers. Working with high-risk drinking populations presents unique ethical and legal challenges in the areas of informed consent, confidentiality, compensation, and risk–benefit ratios. Additionally, alcohol administration studies present challenges for those supervising, as well as conducting, such experiments. New technology, such as the use of ecological momentary assessment or other ambulatory assessment methods to examine risky and illegal behaviors, also presents new ethical challenges that are likely to continue to evolve in the coming years for trainees. Specific recommendations for handling a variety of concerns that may arise when conducting alcohol research are provided. Additionally, suggestions for improving the training of ethical alcohol researchers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)