Ethical considerations of patient involvement in clinical psychiatric research

An important consideration in discussing psychiatric patients' rights is the involvement of such patients in research. In clinical psychiatric research, ethical decisions must be made about patients' ability to understand fully the nature and scope of the study. When family members, social networks, and other aspects of the patients' living situations are included in the study, the researcher must also consider the added risk of invasion of privacy. This paper discusses these ethical considerations through a review of the literature and a discussion of several research studies using descriptive or exploratory designs. Some suggestions for dealing with these ethical dilemmas are offered.