Ethical issues in early-intervention clinical trials involving minors at risk for schizophrenia

Early-intervention clinical trials involving persons at risk for schizophrenia raise a variety of ethical issues. These issues range from some of the most general questions of ethical theory and research ethics to some very specific pragmatic questions about optimal procedures for protecting subjects. Giving special attention to minor subjects (and adult subjects lacking decision-making capacity), this paper aims to provide an overview of some leading ethical issues and concerns as well as a rights-based framework and several concrete suggestions for addressing these issues and concerns.